Google It
by jssavvy3
Summary: Alfred has wanted to leave his job and go off to better things like Google and a scout for new employees finally gives him that chance. However, he doesn't know what will await him when this happens. This should be comedic and of course, there will be romance. America has a brief crush on Belarus at the beginning. There is swearing, but not anything overly inappropriate.
1. Chapter 1

_This is just the disclaimer. I don't own any of these characters. These characters belong to the anime, Hetalia: Axis Powers, so yeah. Feel free to comment and critique this story or fave or follow it._

Chapter 1

It started on a day like today. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, the trees are green, and so is the grass. I'm riding my motorcycle to work, dreaming of a way to get out of work on a perfect day like this, and everything seems to be going just alright. This particular section of Earth seems to be harmonious and perfect, yet I have to spend six hours of it working my ass off in a random cubicle. I work from ten to four at a rate of twenty-five bucks an hour. Therefore, I get one hundred fifty per day and seven hundred fifty per week and three thousand per month, which adds up to a total of thirty six thousand a year. It isn't a lot, but it gets the bills paid. I'm just a lowly tech support guy who wears a blue shirt. I hope to get promoted… or transferred somewhere better like the main Google office. That is my dream. Google would be a fun place to work at and I have experience.

Either way, I pull my motorcycle into my parking space and remove my helmet to reveal my blond hair and glasses covering my blue eyes. Well, they aren't covering my eyes, but you probably get the gist. Anyway, I walk into the tall building and go up to the twentieth floor, my floor. It is filled with endless lines of cubicles and I walk to one. I hear that there is an inspector coming today who inspects all the tech companies. If this guy regards me highly, my boss could give me a promotion or better, I could get transferred to Google headquarters where there are slides and free coffee and just greatness in general. I log onto my computer and look at the project I was working on for my boss. He just told me to make him a spread sheet of profits between my calls. I have an important job. The boss makes me do everything for him, yet I still don't have my promotion.

That boss man with his blond hair, his thermos full of tea or soup or whatever boring British people have in thermoses comes walking into this floor and starts briefing us on things I don't find useful at all, that is until, he introduces the inspector. Man, she is beautiful, but she looks really strict. Her platinum blond hair is tied back into a tight bun and there is a frown on her face. She is wearing a headband with a white bow on and her attire consists of a business woman's suit, all black and tight. After his boss, Mr. Kirkland, introduces her, all the employees go back to working, but even harder this time. The gorgeous inspector, of course, comes to my cubicle first.

"What are you working on?" she with an inflection in her voice that makes me think she is probably Slavic. Her navy blue eyes practically bore into my soul when she asked that, but she is so hot, so that is only one flaw. She is asking what I'm working on. Well, I suppose I'm working on budgeting and making graphics and everything my boss is too lazy to do himself or make other people do for me. I swear, I want some independence from that crazy limey. Anyway, I look to my computer and open up the spread sheets, pitching ideas, and graphics.

"This. My boss is making me do a budget spread sheet… and making some of the graphics and charts for his meetings. Of course, I also do tech support, but no one is calling me at the moment…" I explain to her and sigh. "I'm the only one who does any of this shit and Kirkland can't even give me a damn promotion." Well, I probably shouldn't have said that to the inspector, but it isn't like I can take that back.

"Show me the graphics and charts…" I nod my head and open my program I create things with and pull out a tablet connected to the computer as it seems. Oops. It is stuck on an anime character I was drawing for my blog on Tumblr. I draw America from Hetalia because he looks a lot like me and we even have the same name, Alfred F. Jones. That is right, I am Alfred Fitzgerald Jones like that character from that anime and honestly, I don't mind because frankly, that character is awesome.

"I um… draw everything on this tablet. I totally don't use Tumblr at work! Not that this is for a Tumblr!" I try and defend myself nervously. She seems unamused. Great. Now, the woman is taking notes. I'm not even sure if I want to know what she is putting down for me. Either way, I put down the tablet and use the mouse to open the charts first. "I-I'll just show you the charts…" The charts are pretty much for budget and such. They aren't very spectacular or anything, just I line zig-zagging its way across the screen. I send that to the poster company and it's done before the meeting in two days. "I usually pitch a lot of ideas to Kirkland and he basically steals them and makes me make graphics on what I'm trying to explain…" I blame Kirkland for everything. Anyway, I open up the graphic. It basically is like a story board of what this branch should do to earn more of a profit. She writes more notes and moves on. Well, that was scary.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. It is just me doing my boss's work and taking calls and telling people how to fix their computers, wifi-routers, phones, and tell them why something isn't working and how to fix it general. I once had an old man call me to complain about his blender. That was funny, but I told him how to fix it anyway even though blenders aren't usually the things that I really tell people how to fix. That's a story for another day, though. Natalya, or what my boss called her, comes over to me at the end of the day and tells me that I've been promoted and transferred out to Google headquarters. Apparently, my creativity and skilled graphics for my not-Tumblr blog are useful. She told me that I am in no way meant to be a tech support guy with no imagination. The only thing is, I live in Texas and if I'm being reassigned to Google headquarters, I'll have to move to California.

"When am I required to report to it?" I ask. It is a useful question, but I need time to pack, say goodbye to Gilbert, my best friend and Matthias, too. He is my other best friend besides Gilbert and Kiku. I'll also have to say goodbye to Kiku. All the rest, I guess, I can just notify by Facebook and Tumblr. This is going to be tricky. Also, I need to pack and have a moving away party. Man, this is going to suck, but at least I will have a really nice job that I'm meant to do as Natalya said. She said that I will be a graphic designer for Google at their place. The best thing is, I will get free food and coffee at work and I could take naps, too! Or slide down those twisty slides.

"We'll give you a month." Okay, so that isn't very much time, but I am fine with that. For now, I will go home and start collecting boxes and putting stuff into them. I think I will call Kiku when I get home because I need to invite him to my moving away party that will happen the day before I move away. I'm going drive the three days to California with a trailer behind, so it will most likely not be the day before I move into my new home.

Well, I am now home and I go over to the land line before turning the dial to meet Kiku's numbers. Call me an old man, but it is the older things that were around before I was born that I appreciate more. Like a Sony Walkman. I have one from the eighties and all my mom's old tapes to go in it, but I was born after the eighties. Either way, the phone rings and I hear it click before Kiku answers it. "Heyyyy. Kiku! What's up?"

"Um… Alfred… You called me. I should be the one asking you what is up…" he states, being a know-it-all with societal norms and such. Well, I don't care. He is my friend and I love him either way.

"I just got promoted. I'm moving to California, Kiku! Isn't that great? I'm going to be working for Google like I dreamed I would be. They sent a scout to my tech company because they needed more people to hire. Man, she was so hot, but I know I'll only see her once. Besides, I'm more- Uh…" Kiku interrupts me with a stop. What did I say that was wrong?

"I already know this, but you are moving? Are you just calling me to say goodbye?" he asks me, a slight worried tone in his voice. Kiku always worries way too much about me no matter what I am doing.

"Hell nah, man! I'm gonna have a small party before I leave! I'm going to invite you, Gilbert, and Matthias… oh and Gil's brother… and his boyfriend. Gil's girlfriend, too. Oh yeah. I needed to invite Matthew and Berwald and Tino and Matthias's boyfriend. Man, it's gonna be a big party, I guess… Matthew's going to invite Carlos. I'm sure of it, but that dude hates me. I hope he doesn't. Man, I'm going to have to make a lot of calls. Well, bye, Kiku! You're invited November twentieth! Oh! Are you coming to the Halloween party I'm hosting?" he asks him. So many parties. I almost completely forgot about the Halloween party, but the decorations all around my house and the Captain Kirk uniform hanging in my closet reminded me.

"Hai. Of course, Alfred. I'll be at both of those parties." After that, I finally bid adieu to Kiku and he says goodbye to me as well. Regardless, I am still going to pack up, at least the things in the bedroom, if anything. I know no one will go in there except me if I want to get busy with someone, but I doubt that will happen. I find barely anyone attractive around here. Natalya doesn't live here and all the guys are just my friends. I don't want to be anything more with them. Before Kiku interrupted me, I was going to say that I was more interested in guys that girls. I hope California will hold new opportunities for me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The last few days have been hard for me with packing and such. I discovered the most nasty stuff hidden away in my closet and under my bed. I don't even remember eating a French fry from McDonald's in my room for a couple years when I moved into this apartment. That's what a dining room and table is for. I didn't have one at the time… Ah. Memories. That is what this stupid packing is bringing back. Of course, I ate it anyway. Those things never go bad. That really probably wasn't smart, but there was a perfectly… eh somewhat good McDonald's fry just sitting under my bed.

Anyway, the reason it has been hard is because 1) it is so much work and 2) it is bringing back memories that I didn't want to remember. Like, when I packed away my collection of signed collectible baseballs, I remembered when my dad passed it down to me when I went to college. That was very heart breaking because he left my mom and me a year later. I haven't spoken to him for awhile. Then, I found my old PlayStation. And all the old games! They don't really work in the newer PlayStation, sigh. But yeah! I remember playing a lot of games with Kiku when I was smaller. He was a Japanese exchange student at the time and years later, he just decided to move back. Well, that's a happy memory at least. So is the memory of my dad, but it is hard, okay!

Well, I wrap a picture frame of Matthew and me when we were teenagers at prom in bubble wrap. Man, that seems like so long ago. Six years ago more or less. He brought Carlos as a friend and I brought uhm… who did I bring? I brought a Russian exchange student. I would have brought Kiku as a friend, but he was only an exchange student for freshman year. Then, we just wrote each other and stuff. I don't even know this Russian dude's name, but he talked awfully funny with all his Russian words he slipped in. Man, that guy was gorgeous... except for that nose. If only I could remember his name. He's probably somewhere in Russia being totally gay in an anti-gay country. Hah. Totally did not seem straight with that pink scarf he always wore. He's even wearing it in the picture. Maybe it is a European thing. Did I even like this guy or did I just go to prom with him cuz he asked me? Did I ask him? Did we go as friends? This picture is making me think too much. I put it in the box and tape it all up.

My Halloween party was a success, on the other hand. It was a pretty big party. I dressed up as Captain Kirk this year and Kiku was this anime character and it totally put my costume to shame. That was uncool. I don't really cosplay too often, except as, like, superheroes and that anime character I look so much like! As well as Captain Kirk, obviously, now. What was the character's name, though? It was a dude from Naruto or something. I don't remember really. To be honest, it was totally a blur because I got so wasted. Well, I _am _older than twenty one. Twenty four, to be exact, at this moment in time, anyway.

Once I turn around, I see a totally empty flat. It is a flat, as my boss, Mr. Kirkland, called it because it is in a building that has people actually living in it besides me and a land lady that knows you personally. If I had a guy to live with he'd have to be tall and have dark curly hair, very crabby and annoying and we could solve murder mysteries together. No, this is an apartment, I told him because this is America and I am not Watson nor Sherlock, nor is Mrs. Garret in any way like Ms. Hudson. Either way, the apartment is barren, boxes lined up along the walls and big furniture staying in its place. There is a banner hung up for me for my party and assorted drinks and snacks in the kitchen. I'm getting a flight today at nine, so my party is going from two to six. What time is it right now?

Man, it is two o'clock right now. I hear a knock at the door. Great. I wasn't even in my party gear. I was planning to wear this really sweet party outfit that says, "Wow, Alfred's got style," but now, I can't even wear it. Maybe it is just Kiku and I can make him wait. When I open the door, I see that it is Kiku.

"Uh… dude. Come to my bedroom and help me pick out clothes." He stares at me with a very confused expression, but I pull him up there anyway. I pick out my leather bomber jacket and find some skinny jeans to wear. For my shirt, I guess just a white undershirt will do. Then, I change in the bathroom. I guess I didn't need Kiku to be in here with me, but he is the only one at my place right now, and I just love attention, but shh. Once in my clothes, I hear another knock on the door. I pull Kiku down the stairs with me and open the door. Now, the party's starting! I'll just fall asleep on the couch tonight and move over tomorrow. My stuff is going to be driven a couple states over. It's going to be a nine hour drive, but I can live. It isn't like I have to start work right in the morning. Besides, truck drivers drive much longer.

A small hand pulls me off to the side. It happens to be Matthew. A wide smile forms upon my face and I hug my brother very tightly. Ah, I can hear his muffled complaints as I keep him held close. It is pretty comforting to know that I can make my brother feel very awkward by giving him just a big hug. I pull away now to hear what he has to say. I'm sure he had a purpose for pulling me off to a corner.

"Alfred, do you know what you are doing? You can't just up and leave everyone you know!" Matthew shouts, which really is in normal speaking voice. I've gotten him to really start shouting, but it doesn't end to well. He is normally very quiet.

"Well, why do you think I'm holding this party? Plus, I think that hot babe, Natalya, will be in California… I know _someone_!" I try and persuade him. I know that Matthew is just trying to guilt me into not leaving. He's going to miss me. That's a bit nice. "Besides, I've always wanted to go to California… These… these middle states, the most water you see is when it rains or decide to take a trip to a lake." I put my arm around Matthew and motion to the "big picture." I don't know what this picture is, but I do know one thing, I am really good at convincing people to see a better of things. "Think about it. Texas, the only water I see is the river, which I don't even live near. It's freezing in the winter and I'm dying in the summer. In Cali, I'll have cool summers by the beach and nice winters with no snow in the winter. Don't you think I'd be happy there?" Matthew tsks and removes my arm.

"Fine… You have a point… I think I'll just go up to your old bedroom, kay?" Matthew's not a social person. I nod my head despite my current thoughts. He invited Carlos! Carlos. That man despises me with all his being and now Matty isn't even going to talk to him?! This really sucks. Well, if Carlos punches me, I am going to blame it entirely on Matthew. We'll see how my brother feels once I have black eye I can entirely blame on him.

Now, I'll go and have a last conversation with those guys, the Spaniard, Frenchy, and the albino. Such a weird group. I know that Liz will be hanging out with them by default, though, because of her boyfriend. "Hey guys! I just wanted to say hi before I go! So hi!" Man, that was a weak starter, but I'll probably get some conversation out of them.

"Man, you got any beer?" Gil asks. Is beer really his top priority right now and did he totally not see the keg set up in the middle of the barren room now filled with about forty people? I gesture over to the silvery-greyish thing with my arms and scoff at him. I think my gestures say enough about how I feel. I'm kind of stressed out with the nine hour thing tomorrow now since I decided to hold a party right before that. _Goddammit, Alfred._ Sometimes, I am surprised at my own idiocy. No wonder Kirkland thinks I'm such an idiot. Now, the German walks over to the keg.

"Gilbert peut être un idiot quelquefois… excuse-il…" Francis chuckles a little bit. I have no idea what he just said besides Gilbert, idiot, and excuse. I stare at him blankly for a second before he catches on that he is not speaking with Gilbert or Antonio and that he actually has to speak English. "Never mind…" Well, that was worth waiting for. Now, he is just speaking French to Antonio, who replies back in Spanish. Gilbert comes back and starts speaking in German. They all laugh. In the meantime, I have no idea what the heck is happening.

"Guys. Speak English. Seriously. I'm moving to California and I'd like to know what y'all are talkin' about!" I sass them in a slightly Southern accent. Born and raised in the South, which is why it comes out every once in awhile. In business trips (because sometimes my stupid boss would force me to come with him because I do everything for him even though I'm only paid for an IT job), I realized that people do not take you seriously if you speak with a lovely Southern accent. There is a united sigh. The nerve.

"Oui… oh, I mean yes, your majesty… Americans…" Frenchy growls. Rude. I know the French hate Americans, but how stereotypical. I give up. My hands raise in the air, and I just storm off. I don't care. I'm just going to walk away now, not that you guys give a shit or that you can hear me thinking this. Whatever.

My next move is to flop on the couch because what else can I do? The loud music I have playing slowly fades as I fall asleep in the middle of the party. Matthew is taking up the bedroom. I'm the first one to fall asleep, but I need my rest to drive tomorrow. All my stuff is up in my bedroom and stacked along the walls, so the partiers couldn't do too much damage to them.

In the morning, I look around me to see that my place is barren… entirely. Not a soul. Just red cups everywhere, food, and clothes people seemed to have left here. I start putting all that stuff into a trash bag and cleaning up the floor. After all, I'm selling my place. Man, that was such a dumb move. None of the boxes are damaged or stolen. I counted them before I started the party. Point for Alfred. I now go upstairs to find that Matthew has left as well. Nice. Now, the movers are coming in a few minutes.

Well, I'm glad I decided to fall asleep and that I washed all the marker off of my face (so many dick drawings ugh) because the movers have moved all my stuff and I have that long drive ahead of me. The drive is relatively uneventful besides the two songs I thought would never play playing, one being "Highway to Hell" and the other being "Life is a Highway" while I'm on a highway. They are totally polar genres, but those songs made me gravitate to the "Highway" channel on XM radio which plays a bunch of country rock and pop. I like country anyways. Besides, it would be really annoying if I didn't considering that I live in the south, well, lived. My entire drive consisted of me eating chips and beef jerky and chugging soda and obviously listening to country music. Now, I finally got to my beautiful new apartment in San Francisco which is really expensive, but with this new job, I feel I can afford it… Besides, I was able to make the down payment (barely) or whatever they call that pre-payment that isn't exactly rent yet.

Ah, the city is on a harbor, which means it totally is near a beach. I can't wait. The movers are already moving my stuff in here. This is great. At the moment, I am so happy that I literally faint on my bed. Oh wait, that's just from exhaustion from driving all day. Luckily the movers left at that point.

An hour later, I am awakened by a loud knock. It must be neighbors. My movers plugged in my fridge for me, so at least, I have a place to put a casserole. Is that what neighbors give each other? It is what they do in movies, but I don't even know if it is a neighbor. I open the door and my eyes widen at the figure before me. I never thought that I would see this person so unexpectedly and so ironically considering my thoughts lately have been about people from my past. "It's… you…" Memories come back at the sight of this person.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

My mouth is agape as I look at the figure in front of me. It is a man, in his fifties. He has brown hair and blue eyes, a nose like mine and he wears glasses. His beard is scruffy like I remembered it always was. His beard was never entirely shaved and smooth as I remember when I was really little. I always wonder why he left. My dad moved to California apparently because here he is at my doorstep.

"You got your mother's beautiful blonde hair like I remember…" Really, that's the first thing he says to me. Out of an impulse, I slam the door in my father's face. Man, what did I just do? I'm so stupid. This deserves a facepalm. Then, I go to open the door once again. My father stares at me with a confused expression and I clear my throat in the awkwardness. "No hugs, Freddy boy?" he asks. Man, is my dad always this oblivious? Did it occur to him I might- Wait… Goddammit!

"Why…? Why did you leave me and my mom, you jerk?!" I yell at him. Okay, so I am so much less than ecstatic to see my dad right now. Why?

Well, it all started when I was born. My dad, his name is Benjamin, but people just call him Ben. He married a woman named Deborah, aka, my mother. When she got married to my father, she was then Debbie Jones. Well, she used to be Debbie Williams, and now, she is still Debbie Williams. When my mom changed her name back, Matthew changed it along with her, but I preferred to keep it Jones because well, I had more of an affinity for my father than my mother, which is why it tore me up when he left. He was smart an inventor, historian, and writer, but mostly an inventor. I had more in common with him with my love of technology, science, and space, as well as my creativity which totally landed me this job at Google.

Anywho, my mom had my brother and I at the same time, which is why Mattie always gets confused for me, poor guy, but I honestly don't really care. You know what, I realize that I don't remember anything from when I was a baby. I'll just skip to when I was five. Okay, so the story actually starts when I was five years old. Of course, ten years later, he left.

My first memory good memory of my father happened when I was five. We went out and played our first game of catch. That reminds me of when I was ten and he threw a baseball at my head. I had to go to the hospital. As an apology, he gave me all his signed baseballs, the ones I packed up earlier, actually. Anyway, when I was five, my parents seemed to be happy with each other. In my mind, they always seemed happy with each other. Apparently, that wasn't the case. My parents never told me what led to their falling out that happened when I was fifteen. This is why I want to find out right now since my father is standing at the doorstep. I wanted to go with him so much, but he said I couldn't. I really wanted to. My mother and I, we never mixed.

She is a lot like my brother. She worries easily, she likes reading, cooking, sewing, etc. I could never talk to her when I was going through puberty because well, I couldn't connect with her. Also, she isn't a guy. She helped Matthew perfectly fine, but that is only because he is pretty much exactly like her. He even looks kind of like her if he didn't have my dad's nose. Both my parents had glasses, so it isn't like I just got bad eyes from my dad, who is wearing glasses and standing right in front of me currently.

"Sometimes, things don't work out. You have to understand…" he sighs.

"But why didn't you take me with you? I would have been so much happier in California! I love you, Dad… You just left me and Mattie and Mom without another word." I am a bit angry. I pull my dad inside. I don't really feel like my neighbors should get to hear my dad and me fighting in the hallway.

"Your mom and I were fighting for awhile. We… we tried. I couldn't stand to be around her. We were too different. In a way, I stopped loving her. It was one of my best decisions. I got to travel around the world and meet many beautiful-." Okay, I just wanted to stop him there.

"Gee, Dad. I was so important to you," I roll my eyes. How could he just say all this heartless stuff to me? It isn't right in my opinion.

"I'm sorry… I realize now that it was a horrible mistake because I lost touch with my children, barely know 'em now and I'm still alone. I just wanted more. When I heard you got a job in California, I decided to visit you. Freddy, just never let greed take over you. It is not good." I step back away from him.

"I have a job in the morning. Could you go…? And stop calling me Freddy. It's Alfred…" Most people usually call me Al or Alfie, though, but never Freddy. My mom calls me Alfred, Matthew calls me Alfred or Alfie and all my friends call me Alfie. Kirkland usually calls me Al, though, but only Dad calls me Freddy. He even called me that when I was littler.

"Yeah. Just take my phone number and call me if you're ever in a pinch. I want to be your dad again." I sigh and wave him off. I put the phone number in a drawer that the movers moved in here. My dad was so great, but now, I'm not sure what I think of him now that I know the truth. He just stopped loving my mom and left without us because of some mid-life crisis? He seems kind of lonely now, so maybe I should call him every once in awhile. After all, my dad is who got me interested in sports, space, and science. I loved my dad. I just need some time to think it over. Maybe I'll sleep on it. As I said, I have work tomorrow.

The next day, I recall my father's visit, but I still do not touch the paper besides the time that my father gave it to me. Anyway, I have to get ready for work and I have to stop thinking. Once I'm in my work clothes, or what I consider work clothes anyway, I go out and call a cab. This is going to be expensive until I get a car. There I go not thinking again. I make it stop at McDonald's and grab two McGriddles before making it drive to the Googleplex building. Ah, work sweet work.

"Oh, hey, Natalya," I purr at the shorter woman with the clipboard. She rolls her eyes. I can't believe she doesn't find me attractive. Me: the hero. Man, how rude. "Oh, you know you like it." I will not stop until Natalya is mine. Oh wait, she seems to look murderous now. I think I'll just back a few steps away from her.

"Follow me. I'll take you to your superior. He's the most amazing man on Earth and he's mine. If you put a finger on this important man, I will personally make sure that you die a very slow and painful death, you got it?" Natalya snarls at me. She is a feisty woman. Ooh! She must be mine, obviously and I will make it my goal, but apparently, she is with this other guy, my superior. I wonder if he will be training me for this job or something. However, at the moment, I am shuddering violently at Natalya's tone, slowly nodding my head. "Now," she sneers, "we shall go meet him, yes?" I nod my head once more, not wanting to anger her more… if she is even angry. I don't know what this is. Maybe obsessive possession over my superior.

I now follow her over to a nice glass cubicle (seriously, everything is modern and glass and there's a slide and stuff). I look inside of it and there is a leather chair facing the other direction towards a desk. Honestly, it seems as if I'm about to walk into an evil villain's cubicle it's so mysterious. She skips into the small thing and leans down to tell her boyfriend or something that I am here to see him. The chair seemed to jump when she walked over. Okay, so she even creeps out my... well, I'm not even sure if he would be my boss. I think he's just my boss for now. It's not just me that she creeps out, though. Cool. She looks at me and I am supposed to walk in, so I do.

"Natalya, leave us alone, please," a deep, accented voice speaks from behind the chair. It sounds kind of familiar, actually.

"Alright, dear brother. For you." Okay, barf. This is some kind of incestuous thing going on, I guess… or some very overprotective sister thing. I will still work to get my Natalya, though! After all, I'll be working with her, I think. Well, she seems to travel a lot, so I might not be able see her very often. I wonder if there is a reason for that.

My eyes widen when I see who is working in the chair. Silver hair and violet eyes meet me. I was just staring at a picture of him and finally, I know what his name is. "Ivan…" I mumble. What am I going to do? I was just looking at a picture of him a few days ago and now, all the sudden, he is here. What are the odds of that? However, I am still kind of blank on what we were at prom. Maybe it wasn't a very memorable date. I look at his lips, they are curved cruelly. It makes me shudder, but not violently like when Natalya threatened me. It also strangely turns me on, which again, makes me shudder.

"I thought I'd never see you again… Not since prom, 2008. Do you remember, Alfredka?" Alfredka? What the heck? I'm sure he has called me something different, something similar. I stand there with my mouth wide because I cannot process this right now, really. "I have tutorials to give you. You know, when Natalya gave me the list of who she was to hire, I got rather excited…" he giggles, like literally, giggles. How can I not remember much about this guy? He's such a character… and really hot. "It was so embarrassing. Are you going to just stand there dumbly or are you going to say something? Oh, you are as stupid as I remembered you!"

Okay, well, now, I'm insulted. I shoot a glare towards him, but I still am not saying anything. He continues laughing and I swear, sneering at me as I continue to say nothing, but for the first time, I am speechless. I wasn't speechless when I saw my dad, but for some reason, I'm speechless when running into this guy. "Yeah, just call me Alfred or Al… Alfie if you're so inclined…" I tell him, a little bit of contempt in my voice.

"What about Fredka? It's what I used to call you… You didn't seem to mind…" he pouts with these huge violet puppy dog eyes. This guy has some mood swings. It is really annoying me that I can't even remember how we even met. He must not have been very memorable. I shake my head and cross my arms. "Alright. Alvey then…"

"Al_f_ie." Since when is an f a v?

"Fine. Alfred then… if you want to keep this professional…" Ivan growls and crosses his arms. "I suppose I should start talking to you about what I do then, yes?" he asks me. I nod my head. I would like to keep this professional, especially since I want Natalya, not my old prom date. Well, I don't know what he would mean by unprofessional, though. "Okay. Well, this is a standard office where you will mainly work. It comes equipped with a desktop and a chromebook, which if you were to use you would have to sign in with your employee email. Most likely, you'd be using your desktop, though. We usually take the laptops home for work, but you keep it locked away in your desk if you don't need it." Ivan gets up from his place now. I guess he has somewhere else to go with me. Man, I hope I can get through this day without collapsing from all the great (I mean sexy/villainous) accents around here, mostly Ivan's and Natalya's.

"Braginsky, I don't really remember you…" I sigh. "Where are we going next…?" Seriously, Ivan just stops right in his place. Is it because I told him the truth? If there is one thing that I remember, it's that he doesn't like lying. I don't know why, it's just something I remember.

It was in senior year, I met him a few weeks ago and we already seemed to hit it off… in like a friend way. He comes up to me and asks me to be his partner in a science project. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be partners with the foreign exchange student. I didn't know if I would be forced to do all the work. To be honest, Ivan seemed kind of like the type, so I lied to him and said that I was doing it with a girl that I made up. We got in a fist fight once he found out. I got suspended for three days, but he did, too. Hm… I remember him being more of my enemy than my friend.

I turn my attention back to him now that I'm out of my thoughts. He seems to still be standing there. He looks a little bit mad, but I don't think I'll question it just yet. I watch as his chest moves up and down as he takes in sharp breaths. "Dude, think we could get a move on… I remember when we got in a fist fight, if that makes you feel better."

"I'm obviously not memorable enough to remember… Da, let's get onto the design lab and the technology lab… No, wait. Let's just go to the nap room. I've been working for five hours straight on no breakfast. Besides, I think you would like that room…" His voice is condescending. Is he implying that I'm lazy? Well, it is totally true half the time, but that doesn't matter! How early did this guy get in here, though? I think he's over-working himself, not that I care. I keep recalling bad memories of this guy, the meaner he is to me. Calling me stupid, and then lazy, condescending me like he is better than me, which he is not. If anything, I am better than him because I'm more heroic and don't have an evil villain commie voice. Whatever relationship we did have, it most definitely was screwed up, at least on my side if this guy always insulted and acted condescending to me.


	4. Chapter 4

_Wow, all your guys' comments are so great. Really. They mean a lot, especially since this is my first story. So yeah, thank you for commenting. Sorry I haven't been able to update as much as I would like..._

I follow the Russian towards the nap room. Seems he was not kidding about that, nor did I even realize that there actually was a nap room at this facility. Google rocks, but I don't want to prove this asshole right by saying I like this room. There are pods set up all around and my boss for now climbs into one of them. It is really dark in this room and I don't really like it. I have the urge to speak really loudly or at least whisper-talk to Braginsky. This is so boring. I might as well spend this time reminiscing in my own mind about what the heck Braginsky and I are. It is really getting on my nerves. And so, I step into one of the pods and some soothing lights flash on. Weird. I close my eyes and let the reminiscing begin. Maybe this is dreaming, but factual dreams.

It is September now, the beginning of my last year of high school. I have all my community service hours done and I've gotten my new schedule. All my friends, except a certain outstanding Japanese student who was only here for freshman year, greet me once they see me. We do assorted bro hugs and handshakes, laughing, smiling, and dare I say, making dick jokes. My backpack is heavy today because of all the new school supplies I've bought in the last few weeks. My end is going to be my beginning. I know this, but all I have to do is get through is this year and then, well, then, I have freedom, something I know to be part of the American dream, my dream.

I separate myself from my group to go to my locker and empty out some of my school supplies in my locker. I only need enough for two periods. On my way there, I spot someone, someone who stands out from the rest. Well, how could he not? He is sitting all alone, first of all. His hair is all silver. I start walking towards him and he looks even more stunning. His eyes are violet. I know that because he is now looking right at me. If he is a teacher, I would die because that would be really gross. I'm thinking that I should probably introduce myself. I walk even closer to the mysterious new man and hold out my hand to him.

"Alfred F. Jones! And you are?" I say while shaking his hand up and down. His smile is a little bit unsettling, but I don't think that that matters, or does it? There is just something off about is. I let go of his hand now.

"Ivan Braginsky…" He says his name like Yvonne. Pff. Yvonne is a girl's name (I may or may not have said this out loud). He is obviously Russian, though. I wonder if he underage drinks vodka. "What does the f stand for? Fatass?" he asks. Oh my god. What the hell is wrong with him? I can't believe this. His foul words to me and I kind of take this to heart.

"I… I-I… I know you are, but what am I?!" I shout back unsurely before storming off. Oh, I really do not like it when people comment on my weight. It's been really hard because I'm supposed to be this jock with a six pack, yet, I can't seem to lose the last ten pounds no matter how many diets I go on or how many sit ups I do. It's really embarrassing in the locker room and honestly, I do get made fun of it a lot around all these muscular football players. They think I should be the water boy, but I'm the quarterback. Goddammit Braginsky!

My eyes snap open and I hit my head on the top of the pod. "Braginsky!" I growl. "How dare you call me fat?!" Okay, well, I have no idea where that came from. Actually, I do from that memory I just dreamt about. It all makes sense why I tried to black him out. The other people napping all shush me and in reply, I shush back in reply. The worst part is… Ivan isn't even in the room anymore. "Where the heck is he?" I whisper harshly to myself. I presume he is back in his glass cubicle. Well, there is no use in staying here. It's dark outside now. Seriously. I slept through my entire day at work. This blows. I walk over to Ivan's office and give him an extremely hard slap on the cheek.

"What was that for?!" he yells at me, holding his what-used-to-be pale cheek which is now red and has a hand-shaped mark on it. I cross my arms and glare up at him. This man made me sleep all through work. He is so mean. It isn't like I actually wanted to work, all jet lagged and such and tired from the drive over, but still. This was supposed to be my tutorial day and jerk Braginsky calls me fat in a dream and makes me sleep in.

"For not waking me! _And _calling me fat in my dream! But I'm preeettyyyy sure it happened six years ago!" God, no wonder I forgot him. Ohmigod, is he really smiling at me? That smile seems kind of nice actually, happy even and relieved. I hope he isn't planning on killing me right now.

"You remember something of me," he says, that smile still on his face. Oh god, it was true and it was a bad memory. Why can I only remember bad memories of this guy? We must have gone through one hell of a break-up, too… if we dated, which I really doubt. My thoughts are that we were enemies or something. First, I remember that we got in a fist fight and now, I remember the fat thing. Somehow, we became friends, but the question was how and if it was genuine. For the science project thing, we were friendlier with each other until we got into a fist fight, but that was only a month into school. Sigh. Braginsky, confuses me.

"Well, it's not a good memory! I feel like I was in some relationship where I had to beat you up to get anything nice outta ya. Wait, was it like that?" I ask him. It's what it seems like. There's that weird smirk on his face again and it is really bugging the hell out of me. "Wipe that smirk off your face, Braginsky…" I snarl.

"Is that how you talk to you current superior?" Ivan rolls his eyes. "I should probably teach you workplace etiquette… unless you don't want a professional relationship," he tells me. This is not cool. Insult after insult. I am starting to despise Braginsky. I really do not know what I saw in him, nor do I know if I even dated him because my redundant mind blacked him out for some reason. Ugh. "Anyway, we should get going to the technology and design labs. Come on, little one." There is some more condescending crap. He may be two inches taller than me, but I am totally not that minute. I swear, this dude really is a pest.

Despite me thinking that Ivan is the bane of my existence, I follow him anyway. Firstly, I really really want to see the design lab because well, I love designing. Also, I love technology, which is the other lab we'll be going to. Secondly, though, he is, and unfortunately, I have to admit this (but not out loud hahahaha!), he is right and he is my superior, so I have to follow him and obey him no matter how much I dislike him. I seriously feel like this guy is just going to lead me to hell instead of some technology paradise, though. He just has that weird air about him, not that I usually detect airs, but this guy just seems evil. I wonder if he was always like this… considering I may or may not have went out with him in high school.

"Hey, Ivan…" I ask quietly, hoping he'll hear my voice. I should have said it louder. I should have shouted it and caused him to go deaf. On another note, though, with it being all dark and such, I wonder if the technology and design labs will look even cooler, especially if I turned the lights off. Here's an elevator. I'm forced to be alone with him for the next thirty seconds. "Ivan!" I speak up because I still got no response out of him.

"Mm-hm? What is it, malenkie upryek?" Man, the way he rolls his r in that Russian word, whatever that means. I wonder if it is an insult. It sounds too sexy to be an insult. Other languages are too sexy. Russian is too sexy. It's probably the meanest nastiest word ever and here I am blushing over how sexy it sounds. Speaking of which, what was I originally going to ask? Ah, I got it.

"Do you work in the technology department?" I ask him. His response is a nod of the head. Oh, wait, he is opening his big mouth to speak.

"I usually work from the computer, but sometimes I come in here… This area is probably where you'll be working, though… based on what Natalya told me about you. I don't think she likes you." Wait, what'd you say, bitch? Hold up. Natalya doesn't like me? How could that beautiful woman not like me. Me. The hero. I mean seriously. I mean, she is like the most beautiful woman on Earth, so obviously she has to be mine. "You are good with technology and like being creative, yes?" Seriously, I just can't process why Natalya doesn't like me. "Alfred…" It just doesn't make sense. Someone's snapping fingers in front of my face. "Alfred." The voice is stern and accented. Natalya, though. How is this possible? "ALFRED!" I snap my head towards Ivan.

"Wha?" I ask half-heartedly. "What'd you say?" Well, I didn't catch anything that Ivan said to me because well, I'm sure you guys who are strangely looking into my brain know why.

"I asked you if you are good with technology and being creative…" I nod my head at what he says. "Also, I told you what kind of work I do and how we are holding up the elevator." Oh.

"Well, what _do _you do?" A sighs escapes Ivan's pale, cracked, and dry lips. It is winter. Everything is cracked and dry except the ground which is moist with rain, which is apparently rare in California. I found that hard to believe with the ocean, you know, being right there, but well, it is true.

"Mostly I do coding, present sometimes, make new programs and fix old ones. I also answer calls about problems that other people are having…" Sooo he is basically what I did but with more work. More interesting work, but still more work. How lame. I bet my job here is much cooler. What is it with people being IT workers at my age? Is it some sort of trend or did I date Braginsky because of our common love of technology? I really am not positive of us dating, nor do I think he particularly likes his job, but whatever.

"Cool… We should get out of the elevator now…" I feel a cold hand on my back that is coercing me forward. It is really unnerving but I go forward anyway. That cold hand and its coldness that is radiating around me leads me to the technology lab where it is removed. I look around at the room. It is full of gadgets, people wearing masks and fixing stuff, too, improving it. It looks like an engineer's and technology enthusiast's dream. I feel like I'm in the future. "The future… is now…" I say, thinking that there is no other better phrase suiting for this display of technological glory.

"Hmph… wait till you get to the 'creative' room." The creative room? Is that the design lab he was talking about early?

"I get to work with these people?" I just want to make sure. They all seem so cool. They also seem like nerds who were probably stuffed in lockers, but cool nonetheless. Ivan nods his head in answer to my irrelevant, follow-up adjunct.

"Your tools will be supplied, but I recommend not wearing long sleeves or growing out your hair in case of _sparks flying_…" Those two words hit me like a ton of bricks. I think I am about to remember something, but I'll go into that more later. "Shall we move on or would you like to meet your fellow thinkers and inventors?" he asks me. Nah, I'd like to move on. I spent the entire day sleeping in the nap room because of this ass. I'd like to go home soon and well, finish up this tour today. I follow Braginsky to the next room which, omg, it is just amazing. There are touch screen… TVs. People are drawing on them and sliding Google slides (also adding onto them with extraneous keyboards) across the screen. It is so awesome.

"So what will I be doing in this department?" I ask him. I'm not sure if it is self explanatory by people staring at tablets and typing on laptops and of course, giant touch TVs. It doesn't look self explanatory.

"I go in here a lot to make presentations… on the touch screen monitors… But you also make blueprints and art in this room. It really has to do with creativity…" Ivan tells me. Hm… Well, I am officially wowed, and I think, this is the point where I go home. I'm not going to be able to sleep because of this ass, but I could at least try.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

To calm my nerves, so I can actually sleep despite napping the whole day, I decide to take a bath. Usually, I take showers and such, but Kiku said it is good to take a bath once in awhile… and it has been awhile. Therefore, I want to take a bath. I pour some soapy stuff into it that smells good while I'm drawing the bath. After that, I decide to shed my work clothes for today before submerging myself into the wonderfully warm waters.

Braginsky just puts me in a bad mood. I don't even feel like splashing or anything like I would normally do when I take a bath. However, I can't help but think about those two words he said to me… _sparks flying sparks flying_. I've heard him say that before. I remember saying that before. I sigh and close my eyes to think. It's even unrelated to what he was talking about, which was welding basically. Welding is what he was talking about, but the way he said it just makes me want to remember.

"Sparks are flying… Sparks fly… I feel… It's like… sparks… flying…" I say to myself in my pursuit of trying to remember, in which I do. It is the beginning of the second semester and Winter Formal is rolling around. Honestly, I find it totally unfair in my circumstances because there weren't any girls hot enough (like Natalya hahahaha) that I wanted to ask me. Besides, I was mostly… the other way around at that point anyway. I still am… with the exception of that long, blonde-haired, very scary and fierce beauty that recruited me! I should probably give up on her, but that is totally not the hero way… Maybe… after I ask her out…? I have no idea.

Anyway, I'm trying to focus on Ivan! Which is saying something since so far I've gotten a douchey vibe from him right now. Seriously, this thought is wracking my brain. Winter Formal is rolling around, but of course, girls have to ask guys. Well, what do gay couples do? I have no idea! I walk around campus to figure this out and I see something.

I see giant letters written on the wall in chalk, "WILL YOU GO WITH ME TO WINTER FORMAL?" Of course, I just think that is some old proposal for someone else. Then again, I never really assumed that I would be asked to winter formal in such a giant way. I may be kind of popular, but girls have never really asked me out. It sucks. Anyway, as I'm staring at the sign, I feel a pang of envy for whatever happy couple is going to go to the formal together. As I am frowning, a door opens from the same building the words are written on and it is Ivan… with flowers. What a dweeb. Doesn't he know that the girl is supposed to ask the guy?

"Alfred!" he calls out. What? Did he get rejected by the girl cuz he wasn't supposed to do it that way? It would figure. Ivan is so socially awkward, in my opinion anyway. He doesn't seem to have very many friends anyway.

"Yeah?" I ask once he is right in front of me. There is a wide and creepy grin on his face and he pushes the flowers towards me. I stare at the yellow flowers. "What are these for? Did a girl ask you out or somethin'? I'd appreciate if you wouldn't rub it in, douchebag," I cross my arms. Ivan frowns at me. Okay, we aren't really the best of friends… from the fist fight and the fatass thing and just Ivan being Ivan.

"Noooo… Guess again?" he asks, pushing the flowers into my hands now. I grasp them because he seems to be letting go of them. Then, I stare at him blankly and back down at the sunflowers. They are a really weird flower choice. Whatever happened to roses? Whatever girl gave these to him is very weird.

"What, dude? I don't know!" I whine at him. Is it something obvious that I'm missing here? Apparently so.

His next words are: "I'm asking you to Winter Formal, silly!" Man, he has that weird adorable smile on. Seriously, his smiles range from really creepy to evil to happy to just outright adorable. Why would I want to go to Winter Formal with him, though? Don't we hate each other? He's pretty high up on my loathing scale. I now am staring at him incredulously because I just don't believe a damn word that came out of his mouth! "Yes or no?" he presses.

"Ummm…" I have no idea how to answer. Those violet, really strange yet beautiful eyes just bore into my soul. I need to make a decision right now, but how can I?

"When I met you, it was like… _sparks flying_…" Ivan says to me. How? The first name he called me was "fatass," which I really do not appreciate, thank you very much, you stupid head, Ivan you. I hope that's what my face says to him right now…

"Um… fine…" I feel water around myself at this moment and I open my eyes. My memories are forming and I suppose I'm glad (kinda) and kinda shocked I forgot this memory. Also, a bath isn't too bad of a place to recall something. That one happens to be a rather sweet memory. A sweet memory of Ivan. Who would've thought? I wouldn't have. I need to prioritize my goals for tomorrow, though. 1) I should ask Ivan about Winter Formal and 2) I should ask Natalya on a date. How could she say no? It just seems rather incongruous considering I am the hero and all fair maidens fall victim to the hero's charms, right? Right, Alfred? Right.

So now, all that is left to do is sleep this off… even though I had, like, a five hour nap earlier, thanks to Braginsky. Anyway, onto the next day, my priorities (and I'm glad I haven't forgotten them) are to ask Natalya and then ask Ivan something… This new day at work is going to be sweet cuz I'm going to get a new girlfriend and find out about my past~! It is going to be great. For now, I'll just get into some khakis, some Captain America shirt and my jacket. The people who aren't high up in Google are pretty casual. I'm guessing I'm not high up… Just guessing.

All that is left to do is drive there, which is actually a pretty lengthy drive since I live in San Franscisco now, but the Google place is a city over. Ah, well, what can you do? It takes a short amount of time compared to the whole day. Speaking of which, those twenty minutes pass and I am finally here! I'm totally ready for my first real day and there's Natalya waiting for me! I run a hand through my hair to make it look sexier and me in general. Who am I kidding? I am sexy already. Anyway, I walk up to the long-haired girl with the peculiar bow in her hair and smile at her.

"Hey, Nat! I wanna go on a date with you. Soooo, what time?" I ask. I already know she is going to say yes. Besides, I'm not one for circumlocution… It's a given, obviously. Her face looks oddly dour and uninterested, though. There isn't a sign of even a little red on her face, which I find really bizarre as well.

"Never," she basically hacks out, as in hacking a loogey. It is so mean and gross-sounding that that word just fits it. My mouth is wide from just the utter shock that she just denied my proposal. "Why would I _ever _go out with you?" Natalya continues to shock me in the most horrible way.

"Duhhh! Because I'm the hero and very manly and look out for damsels in distress! Damsels in distress like you!" I reply back to her with a grin on my face. Hopefully, this will persuade her to go on a date with me. No! She gives me the dreaded eye roll. Wait, maybe rolling eyes could be good. It could be some Slav thing that I don't know about. Right? I hope so…

"Hero?" she snorts. A small cruel smile peeks onto her face. "The hero of what? Being annoying and idiotic?" Well, Natalya is very mean. If she thought I was annoying and idiotic, why did she recruit me? It doesn't make sense to me. I thought she recruited me for me.

"Why did you recruit me then?" I probably shouldn't ask this, considering my mentality has already taken a gargantuan blow already, though.

"I recruited you for your design skills and knowledge of technology…" she deadpans. "All professional like I am supposed to. Why else did you think I recruited you?" Well, this is very crappy. I don't answer her and just trot off to the stairs. I should probably consult Ivan what I am supposed to do. I don't want any more punches to the emotion center of my brain, so I guess I'll just wait to ask Ivan about the formal. I'm not even sure if that memory is accurate or if I just want it to be accurate, so it's best to wait.

Once I slowly meander up the stairs and into Ivan's cubicle, I tap him on the shoulder and watch him turn around. I dryly say to him, "What am I supposed to do…?" My crush is officially over and honestly, now, I feel a little dead inside. I think the Ruski can tell, unfortunately. His face doesn't seem to have that normal "I'm going to torture you excruciatingly" smile on.

"What's wrong?" Like I said, he knows what I am thinking because he is just that creepy. Ugh. I am so not up for Ivan's creepiness today. I just, I don't feel like I can even work now unless it was some awesome job or something, but considering it is work, I don't think so. Since when is work supposed to be fun? That's just the mood I am in today.

"Ah… I got rejected by Natalya… I asked her on a date and she said no," I reply to him. Should I be telling Ivan this? I mean, she is his sister and we may or may or not have dated. He gave me flowers to ask me to Winter Formal, but I'm pretty sure that is a Russian thing… I mean, whenever Kiku would show up, he would give me something like origami things or lunchboxes. I know he's Japanese, though… I just remember something like that. Ah, nevermind.

"Well, that is good. She is my sister. I would take that as a _betrayal_, Alfred," he tells me.

"What do you mean 'BETRAYAL?'" That's a really weird word he used. What does he mean by that? Does he think that we are still dating? Because if that is the case, I should probably break it to him right now.

"Relax, Alfred… She is my sister… I think that it would be like stabbing me in the back if you were to date her. That is all. We have a professional relationship here and I would not want to soil it by you dating my sister or else I will have to hate you." Ivan smiles down at me innocently like what he just said didn't mean a thing at all. I think he is mocking me and my feelings for Natalya. I am really hurt and what he tells me is that _he _is better off without me dating her. That asswipe. I hate him. What the heck is this? This relationship isn't even professional… What's he talking about?

"All I hear is shit," I say mindlessly. Oh my god, he looks like he is about to murder me right now. That smile has gone from innocent to "I'm going to torture you" to "I'm going to murder you in the most brutal and torturous way possible" in, like, ten seconds. Is it cuz I swore? I don't think so… "I mean, I am sad, dude… and I expect a little sympathy instead of talking about how my rejection just benefitted you. You know, man? Ivan…?" His smile went to somewhat of a wry one. Okay.

"I see, Alfred. You told me to gain my sympathies… How pathetic. Well, that is what I expect from you…" Braginsky seriously pets me on the head. I want to hate this, but for some reason, this feels so familiar. He is a confusing man. I don't understand why I am confused by him so much. Why can't I just straight hate him? He just belittled me, for Pete's sake! I pout and cross my arms.

"What do I need to frickin' do, Braginsky?" I ask for the second time. I can feel my blood boiling and moving to my cheeks. Ivan smiles down at me and chuckles before looking at his computer screen. He saves a few files before looking around.

"You need to discuss with your superior about that…" Ivan points over to an actual office, not a glass cubicle or anything, but a real office. I walk down the hall of endless glass cubicles to the single door at the end. When I enter it, a tan man with glasses and brown-spiked hair is talking on the phone. His desk has… a plush elephant on it.

"Um… hi… I hear you are my superior…? I'm Alfred Jones," I say. He probably already knows that, but he never met me, so yeah.

"Anaaa… shh!" he shushes me. Oh, well, he is talking on the phone right now. It must be some important call. Hm… I guess I will wait. He is speaking some strange language and referring to himself as some weird word. This is weird just waiting here. Am I supposed to check in with him or not? I look through the hole in the door at Ivan. Unfortunately, he has already started working. Ugh...

"Um…?" I get shushed again. Jeez. Am I never going to find out what to do? After what seems like forever, the man turns towards me with a kind of relaxed smile. He didn't seem relaxed before. That's odd.

"Yes… Alfred F. Jones. Ji- I read about you in the list that Ms. Arlovskaya sent me… I was very close to having her call you back to say you couldn't have the job if I didn't go over the list with Mr. Braginsky… He was really enthusiastic about you, so I decided to keep you on. Besides, I feel like you will be a very fun addition." Well, that makes my eyes widen. And dammit! I can feel my cheeks warming up again at that. Urgh. I hate Ivan.

"Cool story, bro. Anyway! What am I supposed to do? Ivan told me to ask ya!" I exclaim cheerily. This guy speaks awfully formally for a guy with a relaxed smile on his face all the time.

"Ahh, let us see… I believe you are assigned to the technology and design departments. Choose whichever one you want to work on today…" Yes, those rooms were sweet! I wonder if I'll even have my own space in each of those rooms. I fist bump the air and the man smiles at my enthusiasm, or so I am going to assume. It isn't one of those creepy smiles like Ivan gives me. On my way out of his office, I head back to Ivan's. I'm finally ready to ask about Winter Formal.

"Hey, Ivan," I start, "Did we go to Winter Formal together…? I can't remember." That seems like a good enough starter.

"Yes, we did… I remember asking you in the most elaborate way I've ever asked anyone!" he muses animatedly while still staring at his computer screen. It is full of white letters and codes, but I refrain from looking at it longer than I needed it.

"Yeah, you said that you felt sparks fly when you first met me, right?"

"Yes. I do remember, but you were also very annoying. I remember why I made it my goal to ask you to a dance…" Ivan comments mindlessly, continuing to type codes on the computer.

"Did we date?" This is the most important question of them all. There is no other question that compares to this one. The reason why is that is really picking at my brain. It is just really annoying me, okay? I really hate this guy, so I see no reason why I would date him, but then, then, I remembered that memory and it made me rethink…

"Yes. Isn't it obvious? Your stupidity really is cute, Alfred. I swear. You should probably go do your work now before the boss questions you… or… the boss's boss." I wonder who the boss's boss is. However, I am more focused on the fact that Ivan just called me cute and yes, I most definitely am blushing. Body check: and sweating. Agh! I don't like being around him! He called me stupid, but cute! I'm going off to my work… I don't care.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

My face is something red and embarrassed right now. This is just great. I'm going to show up at my work place and everyone is going to laugh at me because of the giant blush on my face. Braginsky called me stupid, yet I'm blushing! Well, he also called me cute, but that doesn't matter! Braginsky is an A+ asshole for making me blush. No, he is just an idiot. Ugh, he makes me so mad with his Ruski charms and stupid commieness. I've got work to do, though. I make a grand entrance to the tech room!

"'Sup nerds! The hero's here!" I exclaim at the top of my lungs. God, tough crowd. They are all glaring at me. What did I say? I thought nerds liked to be called nerds. Okay, well, whatever. Anyway, I take my place near this person with a welding mask. I look around for some other welding mask and the welding mask guy just stares at me before removing his mask. Okayyy… The guy underneath has blond hair, glasses. Yeesh, he is still intimidating underneath that mask… and really tall, like Ivan tall. "Ahem. Can… can you show me what to do…? New here… Guy who showed me around is just a stupid Russian dude who doesn't work in this field!" The man stares at me for a moment before nodding.

"Berwald…" the man says. I raise an eyebrow. Is that in some other language? "That is my name… I will show you around." His voice is pretty deep and scary, not that I'm scared of him. I'm the hero, after all. He sounds Swedish to me… or some sort of Nordic.

"Alfred! Alfred F. Jones! Thanks, dude!" I don't know how to pronounce his name… "Can I call ya Swedish Meatballs?" The man raises his eyebrow and shoots me a glare. "Loki?" Is that a growl? No on that one then… "What about, Swedish House Mafia? You know, like, the band? Hahahaha!" More glares. Come on. That was a great nickname. "Kayyy, um how 'bout Waldo? Or Ber…? Oh! What about Swedish Armageddon?" The Swede raises his eyebrow at that last one and nods. It sounds metal! Awesome!

"Over here… you can get some tools… And scrap materials are assorted in these drawers over here… by item number. The items are in the technical employee handbook," he explains. "We fix the company's broken items and invent new items in this room… I work here generally. I hear you are put in two different areas, though…" His face turns away from mine. The nerve of him.

"Kay! I wanna check out the other department, too! Thanks, Armageddon!" Then, I decide to check out the other department. It seems even cooler. The moment I walk in there, the rejector gives me a ton of paper work. "Take these to Ivan's office. We need a presentation made and he… trusts you." She sounded a bit disgusted when she said trust.

"WHY DON'T YOU WANNA GO ON A DATE WITH ME?!" I shout at her, dropping all the paper work. It goes everywhere and everyone is staring at us. Well, she is being very rude to me and I don't like it. Also, she broke my ego there. Nah, I'm still heroic, but I wanna find out what is wrong with me. Obviously, nothing, but I want to see what Natalya thinks are my imaginary flaws.

"Well, for one, you are really loud! And I despise loud people! You are also annoying! Very annoying and clingy! You are egotistical and you are too cute! Also, you are not Ivan…" she yells at me.

"Hurtful!" I exclaim, holding a hand to my heart, but she did call me cute… "Whaddya mean too cute?"

"You are unmanly and chubby. Your cheeks are too pokeable and your face is too like a child's…" she snarls. "I like men with defined features… Yours are just not. And again, you are not my perfect brother with his jaw line and his rugged face that has seen the snows of Russia. Ah, he is so perfect…" And she is so creepy. Ew. In love with her brother. "Just another reason I hate you. Ivan is in love with you…" Whoa, not expecting that, but yeah, my ego is a little bit cracked again… Also, everyone in this department knows I struck out with Natalya. I thought by announcing it so loud, she would go on a date with me. Apparently not.

I just decide to pick up all the paperwork and take it to her brother… that is in love with me apparently. As I walk back to the elevator, the paperwork in hand, I run into my boss again… what's his name. I don't think I'll ever know it. I think he is just going to be called the boss. I didn't even see a placard on his desk. It was probably blocked by the elephant, though. The tan man smiles at me and waves. He is so friendly, but so formal. It is so weird. I get in the elevator now and stop at Ivan's floor. When I get to his desk, he is not there. I ask Ivan's neighbor.

"Goddammit!" Turns out he is where I was with Natalya making a presentation and I totally went all this way for nothing. God, I need Starbucks. First, I'll take the paperwork to Ivan, though. I go over to one of the giant television screens and tap Ivan on the shoulder. "Here's your paperwork…"

"I'm not in love with you…" he mentions nonchalantly. I blush for the umpteenth time. I can't even walk straight around this guy, but what is with that casual tone, though. "My sister… assumes things… and is very… um… overprotective. It's been so long since we've talked, Alfred. How could I?" he giggles. Man, how could Natalya think this guy is manly? He frickin' giggles. I swear he could wear a flower crown on his head and I wouldn't bat an eye.

"Kay… I just wanted to bring you your paperwork, man…" The Russian grabs it and skim reads through the stack. He grabs one sheet and signs it.

"Your first assignment…" he says, giving me a sheet of paper with his signature on it. I read it over very carefully and go over to a desk. There seems to be a little cabinet full of tablets charging. I grab one of them. Christmas is coming up and they need me to be creative with the Google logo to go all over the world. Great. A lot of pressure is riding on me and Ivan is in this room, so I'm obviously going to fail because that commie is stupid and will probably behave stupidly to me. Anyway, I open up a drawing app I'm familiar with on this tablet and I transfer a picture of the normal Google to it. I need reference. This is my outline. I'll make it sheer for right now.

Right as I make one line, Ivan walks over to me before taking a seat and poking my cheek. "You are so cute, Alfred…" Just ignore him. I draw another line. I can work with these colors, right? I don't know… We totally skipped Hanukkah or did someone else animate that? The first day, at least… My cheek is poked another time. "I like how your face gets redder every time I touch you…" he continues giggling. Is that true? Shit. My cheeks do feel hot. Wait, I must not give him my attention. "I wonder what it would be like to have an office romance. It must be exciting." I stare blankly at the red, green, yellow, and blue letters. Hm… What to do? My cheek is poked again…

"Don't you have other work to do?" I ask him harshly. Hopefully, my point gets across. I can feel my ears heating up at this point, but it is mostly because I am very annoyed right now.

"As you know, we are allowed to have many breaks to insure our health and happiness," Braginsky states as-a-matter-of-factly. Such a dick. I sigh with ire. Yes, I am intensely angry with this communist plague sitting next to me right now. I can't work in these conditions and the worst part is, I don't even have a nice glass cubicle like Braginsky here.

Okay, I will try my ignoring way again. I look down at the letters again. Alright, what is in Christmas? I love Christmas, so this should be easy. Let's see. There are presents, Santa, lights, caroling, trees, and family. Hm… family. I won't be with my family this Christmas, will I? Matthew and Mom are back at home. I don't even have Kiku. At least, I have Dad. Nah, I don't wanna see that bastard at Christmas. Man, this is depressing me. I feel a weight on my shoulder, but I ignore it. Most likely, it's unimportant.

I need to focus and this ADHD and the pestilence are not making it easy. I absentmindedly turn one of the o's into Jack Skellington. Okay, I'm getting somewhere. Just draw a beard and a Santa hat on him. Perfect. Now, his body. He is hunched over to form the G and adding a Christmas ornament to the tree that is bare like Charlie Brown's. Underneath is shadow of the ornament and the branch making the g. The upright stick of a tree is now the l and then there are the presents to make an e.

"That's the most depressing Christmas design I've ever seen…" Ivan mentions. That weight is still on my shoulder. What is it? I turn my head and get a bunch of silver hairs up my nose. Okay, Ivan is leaning on my shoulder.

"Dude?!" I shout at him. He doesn't move from his spot, that bastard. I am tempted to push him off my shoulder right now.

"I've been like this for an hour while you have tried to draw Chrismaween…" he tells me, rolling his eyes. Well, this is awkward. At least, he finally lifts his head off my shoulder. "I think you need something different… How about the Nutcracker? I have always loved that ballet around Christmas time…" Braginsky recommends. No way would I take any commie ideas! I just need to, like, think on it. It isn't due until the end of the day.

"Whatever… I'm going to the tech room… I'm sure Swedish Armageddon needs help repairing the company's equipment anyway…" I get up from my seat. I also kind of want to get away from Ivan because he is being really strange today. He is just being creepy today. Yes, that is it. Finally, I get to the tech room, but it seems that the creepy ass mofo has insisted on following me. Why can't he go to the nap room like normal employees when they want to rest?

"Hey, Armageddon… need help with fixing stuff?" I ask him. The Swede nods his head right now. He slides over a desktop monitor.

"Its screen is black even when plugged in… but it says it is on," he clarifies. The problem obviously lies within the wiring. The wire that connects the area that contains information about the picture to the part that configures the pixels to show a certain image must be broken. I look around in the tool area for what I need. I find a screwdriver to open the back panel of it with. I pick out a few different sized panels. I might have to remove other things to get to this wire. Luckily, I brought my prescription goggles in my briefcase. I remove the plastic sheet to get to the panel and I see a broken wire like I thought I would. I use some wire cutters to cut off the broken wire.

"Ivan, get me wire number… 432101468…" If this dork is going to follow me around, I might as well get him to do what I want. The Russian walks off without questions and brings back to me a nice blue wire that I needed. I cut off some of the rubber conductors to reveal some clean and shiny copper wires. I then intertwine those in the other copper wires to reconnect it. Hm… electrical tape. Berwald has it. I grab it and wrap some tape around the open copper. Wouldn't want sparks going everywhere… Okay, now to test it. I plug it in and the screen turns on. It is on a blue no signal screen. That's just because it isn't plugged into the actual computer system. "Who's monitor is this anyway?" I ask myself mostly.

"Mine!" Ivan exclaims happily. And that is why he couldn't go back to work. I see. Didn't he have to make a presentation or something? He was probably just goofing around with those big touch screens, come to think of it, and then go bored. That's what I would have done if I wasn't super human smart and technology savvy. "You are so smart, Alfred. I can't believe I have found you after all these years…" Why am I so important to him? What? Am I the only one he loved ever since high school? Then again, he said he didn't love me.

"Cool… why don't you go back to work now…?" I ask him. He looks as if he is contemplating something. Okay, good. He takes the monitor and I assume he is going to go back to his desk. In the meantime, there is a broken mouse. That little ball that goes in the mouse came out. Is it called a mouse track? I don't remember the technical term for it… I take my screwdriver and crack the mouse in half. Literally, but it isn't like cracked as it I need to put glue on it to put it back together. "So Berwald… How do we discuss ideas we have for the company anyway?" I ask him.

"We have weekly meetings… If nothing is mentioned, all is normal… just repairs." Usually not much is mentioned. That's what I got from his tone, anyway. Sigh, I have to go to the drawers and find a 432 D edition mouse track ball. Why can't mice in this company just have this laser thing and where do all these items come from? This is weird. Anyway, I find the ball thing. I put my goggles on and cut out the bottom of the mouse with a small electric blade. It adds extra work, but I think this will work better for precision in getting the thing correctly in the right place. Before I can even position it, Ivan comes back.

"We never officially broke up, Alfred…" he tells me. My eyes widen and I stare at him with my dark goggles for a few minutes. I am literally frozen in my place. I cannot handle this information… and I need to fix this mouse. I am not in love with Ivan. Far from it. How can this be? My limbs are numb. What are limbs? My brain is going into melt down right now. "We tried for long distance… from Phystech (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) to Texas Tech…" Then, we got bored. We stopped. I still stare blankly at him. But we never had the talk… I need to give him the talk now. "Remember?"

"Yeah… I… It's been six years, Ivan… We can't still be together…" I tell him. I find it very obvious that that is the truth. I mean, I can't even stand the guy right now, so how could we possibly keep up a relationship right now? I can't. I don't like being around him. He makes me all… jittery. I think it's because I know he is going to be my murderer someday. Yes, that is definitely it. And I am mad at him because of that, so I keep blushing… out of anger! That totally makes more sense! Great job, Alfred! You're a regular Sherlock! I am so proud of myself. Hmph.

"No… you never said it was over… so we are still together… I never cheated on you and was always hopeful of when you would call me again. I always knew we would be together again and here we are!" Ivan tries to persuade me. I roll my eyes. I'm not some desperate wimp that will just climb into anyone arms because they say we are together. And Ivan is obviously a loser, waiting for me that entire time when all I did was despise him… or did I? I don't know. I can't remember. He's obviously still in love with me, though.

"I thought you didn't like lying… Why did you lie to me earlier? You are in love with me, aren't ya, which is why you won't let this go?!" I am just using my deducing Sherlock skills here. Wait, he is laughing now.

"Oh, I am not. As you stated, it's been six years… How can I be in love with someone that I probably barely know now? However, you have seemed to not have changed much, immature Alfred!" His wry and giddy laughing is getting on my nerves right now. "But since we never tore our bond, we must stay together and make it work, yes?" I am not okay with this… and especially not that metaphor. We are not _bonded._ That makes it seem way more romantic and loving than the feelings I am feeling right now. We have no bond! None whatsoever! 


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

"Kiss my ass," I snarl at him. Unfortunately, this is my place of work, so I can't exactly storm off or anything, especially since I committed to this area for the day. To give Braginsky a hint, I put on my ear buds and blast my music in my ears, putting my goggles over my eyes, too. "Stop fucking around with my emotions… I like it better when you're numb…" I sing to myself. I love this chorus, "But you're always out to get me! You're the snake hidden in my daffodils while I'm picking flowers! That's just my life these days! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST BE HAPPY FOR ME?" Okay, I got a little bit too into the song. I suppose I am a little bit enraged at Ivan right now… He is, like, the bane of my existence and he doesn't want me to be happy, I swear. My life was perfectly normal before this. Berwald is looking at me really weirdly. Shit.

I think I'll just focus on taking apart this broken laptop to find out what is wrong with it. Luckily, Ivan left already before I broke into song that describes my hateful feelings for him… The only thing that bothers me is the title of that song, "The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver." Well then, um… moving on. This computer's battery seems to be burnt out. I wonder how old it is. If it's the company's, I'd have to ask my boss what to do with it.

"Armageddon, whose laptop is this? Does it belong to the company?" I ask him. Hopefully it isn't the company's. I don't feel like walking back over to the boss's room, mostly because it is right near Ivan's little office cubicle.

"It's the boss's… but not for the company…" Oh, great. I gotta go to the boss's office even so. I sigh loudly and impatiently because oh my god, I really don't like this. Like, what the heck? What are the odds of this? I don't like it at all.

"The guy with the elephant, right?" I ask him. There is still hope I won't have to go to _that_ guy's office. Unfortunately, Berwald nods. I mutter to myself before putting together the laptop once again. That's it. I take off my goggles once I am finished, but keep on my headphones. A depressing song by a depressing band comes on. The band is depressing because, well, they broke up, not because of their music. Come on, Na Na Na by My Chemical Romance is totally not a depressing song. At least, the beat isn't. I never really paid attention to the lyrics… I think I'll still sing along to this depressing song anyway, though.

As I am about to exit the elevator, I sing, "And after all this time you still owe, you're still this good-for-nothing I don't know…" Then, as I am about to pass Ivan, I sing a bit louder, "Would you even turn to say, I don't love you… like I did… yesterday." Unfortunately, this song lyric causes Ivan to stop me, as I am singing very slowly and sadly. Maybe I have an attachment to this song. There has to be some reason I downloaded it because it is frickin' slow and sad.

"What are you singing?" Ivan asks me as he pulls me into the office. Well, I am just going to state it simply. It seems like the best way.

"I Don't Love You." Oh, the reaction on his face is gold as I state it so nonchalantly and just, I don't even think he knows I just stated the song title because his mouth is open like a fish. I openly laugh despite the sad song still playing in my ears.

"Well, I knew that…" Ivan tells me quietly. Oh, this is so great.

"That was just the song title, dude! You are hilarious!" Okay, well, his face looks a little bit murderous now, but I am going to just put that aside. It isn't like he can actually murder me. It's against the law and I wouldn't think even creepy bastards like him would do that.

"Is this because I said I did not love you anymore… after all these years?" Hm… I guess, Ivan did say something along those lines to me, but it's just the song that played. I roll my eyes. The world does not revolve around this Russian. What an arrogant idiot, thinking that everything I download and sing is about him.

"What? No!" Why did my voice sound like it had a twinge of lie in it? This is unnatural. Maybe I should be paying more attention to my deeper thoughts than the ones that are happening right now. Nah. Most likely, they aren't important. "Look, Braginsky. I got work to do, bad news to break to my boss and stuff. See ya never." Walking off without another word should do it. Maybe I should remove my ear buds to speak to the boss, though. I pull them from my ears in anticipation. Now, I walk down the hall.

Once again, the man is on his telephone, talking in, what is that? I can't even understand it. It sounds so complicated. This is going to be awhile. I guess now would be a good time to contemplate life and delve deeper into my mind. I don't want to do that, but this man is giving me no choice. I might as well access the more heroic part of my mind while sitting. I take a seat in a desk chair and gaze into the black and soulless eyes of the plush elephant on the desk blankly as I feel my conscious thoughts shutting down.

_Sadness of rejection… so many rejections are present in my life. I was rejected by my father. He left… Now, he's back, but I can't trust him. I've been rejected jobs, friend outings, date proposals, all damaging my ego. Natalya gave me a chance and then, my ambition made her strip it away. There is one person who never rejected me… Ivan. Until now… now, he doesn't love me anymore, so short a time ago. Last Skype call, six years ago, seeming like only six days now that he is back, but alas, I am rejected again by the one entity I truly loved. _

I blink into normal consciousness as the boss sits in front of me. The first thing I do is glance down at my computer. It feels like at this point, I am forcing a grin on my face. I have my dream job, my dream apartment, my dream life, yet something seems to be missing. What more could I ask for? I should have kept my thoughts trapped in the back of my mind.

"What have you come here for, Mr. Jones?" my boss asks me, staring down the computer in my hand. My smile twitches as I realize that I have to give my boss bad news. He seems like an easy-going guy, but I don't like to be the one giving bad news, especially if it could cause me to get fired.

"Your laptop's fried… It's not a company computer, so I don't have any parts to fix it with. You might have to buy a new battery. I looked around for any problems I could fix with my tools, but there were none. I concluded your battery…" If it was a broken wire, I could have easily replaced it, company or not. If it was a cracked grid, that would also be a problem worth getting a new computer, though. Fortunately, it isn't that.

"Anaaaa, that was an old computer anyway… Also, I have wanted to get one of those new tablet-like computers for a little while." There is relaxed smile on his face. It appears I will make it out scot-free. This puts my mood in a higher place, I suppose. Well then, I suppose I will go now. It looks like the boss has a desktop computer as well anyway, so it won't be restricting him from work. Hopefully, he backed up all his files, though. Now, maybe I can go back to my work. No, it's been about ten hours. I suppose it's time to head home… I went without a nap today.

I don't want any nap anyway as it seems to bring out my deeper thoughts which I have found to loathe. I should treat them like villains and my good thoughts need to conquer them. That seems like a good enough way to get over them. I need to at least find a way for me to distract myself from them. In contemplation, Ivan decides to put an arm around me.

"Are we still dating, Alfred?" he asks me. I thought I made my views completely clear, but my conflicting thoughts are making me doubt a little bit.

"Depends if you still love me…" I mutter softly, a little bit angrily. I am mostly angry at myself, but I am also mad at Braginsky for being very persistent. Maybe these thoughts never would have come to mind if Braginsky wasn't such a douchebag because right now, I am not in the best state despite the sarcastic, done with sneer on my face. Yes, I have a sneer on my face. Only because I want to do terrible things to this villain pestering me right now, but not terrible as in Ivan terrible. I'd kill someone in a quick and humane way… if they deserved it, not that I think about killing on a daily basis or anything. Ivan brings out weird thoughts, that damn bastard.

"After six years, how could anyone?" My sneer twitches into somewhat of a smile, a very forced looking smile. It makes me look like I am trapped in my own body. I should just frown if I am too fed up to do a good faking job. So therefore, it then turns into a frown. Also, I lift his arm off of mine.

"We are not dating then. If you wish to pursue me, don't." I can't handle this shit today. It isn't Ivan, it is myself. No, it is a hundred percent Ivan. He is making me in a crappy mood, so he must be dealt with in a crappy way.

"Alfred, do you remember what we did on our second date…? I wanted to call it our first, but you insisted that Winter Formal was our first date." Man, I remember, like nothing of our past, but I am going to have to remember this somehow. I should have taken a nap today. Maybe lack of nap is why I am so grumpy, not just those weird thoughts I was having earlier.

"Yeah… You took me to a weird Russian restaurant… I complained the entire time… You got mad at me and somehow, we ended up making out in the bathroom." There's more. I can remember more. "Then, we went to a movie afterwards, popcorn and coke for dessert." I don't remember how we ended up making out in the bathroom, to be honest. It was probably some way of forgiving each other or something. Isn't that what happens with normal couples? I don't know anything. Ivan probably remembers these things better.

"Do you remember what we talked about in the bathroom…?" Now, this is what I don't remember. I shake my head to indicate my answer is no. He sighs and rolls his eyes. What? I don't pay attention to every damn conversation and I really don't like remembering you in particular! Luckily, he can't hear me saying that, but the glare I'm giving him should give him a hint.

"Just spit it out, won't ya?" I want to know what we were talking about, honestly. What made us kiss? How come it was at a Russian restaurant, too?

"Okay… well, you were complaining about how I took you to that restaurant for myself and how selfish I was and I tried explaining to you that I was just trying to broaden your disgusting food pallet that consists of only hamburgers and then we got into an argument about European food versus American food and I, of course, won the argument because your brain is tiny and immature and not open to anything that isn't your truth. Then, you grabbed my tie and pulled me close, uttering the words, 'I despise you,' to which I replied with 'I despise you, too.' Then, you made out with me. It was not my doing, Alfred…" Utter bullshit. How can I believe this? I don't have a memory of this.

"What happened after we were finished making out…?" I ask curiously. Besides the movie thing. I know about the movie thing.

"My hair was all messed up… and we pretty much made up… I said to you that I could always love you… as long as it was accompanied by hate. I don't hate you anymore… and I most certainly don't love you because all the passion is gone. It's been too long, you see." The imprint of my hand finds its way onto Ivan's cheek. I hate Ivan so much. He confuses me so much and in some way, I kind of want that hate to be reciprocated now since he told me that.

"Why the hell did you tell me that?! Like, how can you hate and love me at the same time and now just be frickin' neutral?" Ivan confuses me so badly, I can't even fathom his existence. Is he even a real person? I am starting to question this… He is just so weird, it seems unreal to me.

"There is only one emotion filled with extreme passion and I think you know which one. Hatred. It boils and consumes one. Love does not do that for me…" no wonder I forgot this guy, he's really weird, "unless accompanied by hate… which is why I could love and hate you at the same time. But now, I feel neither. It has been too long, you see."

"It's only been, like, a day… for me…" I mutter to myself. A day since I lost the one I _loved…_ Was he ever in my grasp? I don't think so, not even back then. "I need to get home," I laugh a little bit, a fake smile forming on my face. I'm supposed to hate this guy, aren't I? Why am I not doing it then? No, I really do despise him and perhaps, my feelings were mutual and now they are not. Ugh. I'm confused and it's late at night.

"But you understand now?" Ivan asks me. I purse my lips at him and sigh. Will he not leave the subject alone? I decide to refrain from answering. "Alfred," he basically sing-songs before poking me in the forehead a few times, "I know you have the mentality of a brick wall when it comes to new information you don't like, so I want to make sure I pickaxed my way through that brick wall." Did he just call me a brickhead? That douche! He infuriates me so much.

"Yes, I understand you… clearly…" And he further fuels my hatred. Why is he so confusing? This should be a simple relationship, but no, Ivan wants it to be full of hatred and passion and he wants me to hate him, too, but he doesn't love me because he doesn't hate me and I DON'T LIKE HIM. Once again, I attempt at injuring him, but this time, I punch him in the face, right in that ugly big nose of his. He stumbles back and attempts to punch me back to which I am wounded, literally.

Then, I once again punch him in the face, his jaw this time to make him pay for breaking my glasses. I hear a satisfying crunch and he spits blood out of his mouth. I assume I made his tongue bleed. Of course, I do not walk out unscathed. He tosses a punch right to my stomach, causing me to fall to the floor. This position is not too great. A shooting pain goes through my ribs and the air is knocked out of me. I realize he decided to kick me in the ribs… He is doing it repeatedly now (one two three four more), so I grab his leg and push up so he falls back. A loud thud resonates as the heavy Russian… more like a tree, falls to the ground.

"You are dead to me, Braginsky… Dead. I hate you. I never want to see you again!" I say as I crawl over him. I cough because I feel like he broke a rib. I should probably go to the hospital after this. For now, I just start punching his face as repeatedly as he kicked my ribs. He keeps a stupid grin on his face. I can see I knocked out a tooth. "Stop smiling!" I yell at him. Braginsky does not cease and I find myself unable to breathe as he starts choking me. The roles are reversed. I don't even attempt to breath. Instead, I start crying, but not really as the only sound I can make is a raspy choked sound while his hands are around my neck. He stops and fixes my collar.

I start coughing as I can now breathe, but I am still crying and I sense no end to it any time soon. Ivan isn't even smiling anymore. I suppose he got the message. This is really awkward considering we are still in the Google building, but I suppose it can't be helped. I continue crying so unheroically and he continues watching me as a puddle forms on the dark greyish carpet. I'm not even crying from pain… maybe a different kind of pain, but not physical pain. The world is a blur through my eyes, the lights and Ivan's hair blending together. Am I even able to move from my spot? I think I'll just curl up into a ball. This floor is comfy enough to go to sleep on…

"I am sorry… Let me take you to a hospital…" I didn't even really make too much of a mark on Ivan, but at least, I got an apology out of him. Although, in the midst of my crying, it really doesn't mean much as I still am despite the apology. I choke on my sadness as I feel myself being lifted up. Bridal style. How embarrassing…

"I-I… I hate you so goddamn much…" I say to him. I never could have loved him, yet something within me tells me I did and that we once were happier. The tears have seemingly left my eyes, making my vision a little clearer, and I see a very ugly and bruised face. Unfortunately, my glasses are still broken, so I have to squint at his face. His nose is crooked and purple and he has a black eye. I'm sure I look worse, though, as I cannot even struggle without possibly puncturing my lung.

"This was entirely your fault, Alfred… You are an unbearable idiot, to be honest, but I don't really feel like leaving you like a pathetic child on the ground…" There he is with more of his condescension. "You haven't changed a bit… I don't feel like I have either, though, considering the circumstances. It's like science class all over again." I was about to retort, but my vision is starting to go bla-

* * *

><p><em>Okay, so yeah, credit to the awesome bands who wrote those songs! The first one is "The Irony of Choking on a Lifesaver" by All Time Low. I didn't mention who it is by... and the other one was "I Don't Love You" by My Chemical Romance. I did mention who it was by but not directly. Anywayyyyy, I'm going to do a point of view change for the next few chapters, so y'all know what's going on in Ivan's head. So uh... brace yourselves for that! <em>


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Today started off like a normal work day, but then, my computer had to break, so I decided to take it to the tech department. This is no big deal. I am a little bit angry at my computer's malfunction, but not enough to punch a hole in my desk. A smile marks my face as I give it to Berwald.

"I have a presentation to create. Take your time, Berwald!" I tell him happily. No need to restrict others from their normal jobs. After all, the two departments I am going to stay in might have Alfred in them, oh sweet and stupid Alfred. The boss really did assign me a presentation. Unfortunately, I have most of it finished, so all I have to do is finish one slide and then share it to him on Google Drive. I need to be doing work. I'm sure I can find something to do…

My attention turns over to Natalya as I see that she and Alfred are in some sort of altercation. I can't help but smile that Alfred so dim-wittedly asked out my sister and then asked her to explain in front of a bunch of people. Then, I watch him leave. Oh, poo. Well, I have the last slide of my presentation to do anyway. Once the American comes back and hands me the paperwork, I sign something off and hand it to him. Now, I take a seat and go through the rest rather quickly. I ask someone else to distribute it… really demand, but the person seemed happy to do so. Hehe.

Now, I suppose I should bother Alfred since he is just sitting there being a perfect angel. Doesn't he work in the tech department, too? I'm sure if I bother him enough, he will also fix my computer. That would be incredibly sweet of him. Of course, I do not love him. He is too sweet to me for right now and hasn't really gotten on my nerves much besides having the brain of rock. Slowly, he manages to get on my nerves, but not enough. I don't really care about him, to be honest.

I sit next to him and try to annoy him, happy to get a reaction, but alas, he moves to ignore me again, so I lean on his shoulder like I often did in my past when love was involved in our dating. Always faithful to him, but I suppose, my infatuation has passed too much. All I see now is an idiot, an attractive and adorably cute idiot, but an annoying idiot nonetheless. He really has not changed.

I finally have managed to make him move areas, though, so that is good. I follow him and smile because he is fixing my computer. Because I want my computer fixed, I get him the wire. Otherwise, I wouldn't listen to him whatsoever! Once he finally fixes it, I grasp the monitor in my hand and take it back to my office. A thought hits me, though. What if Alfred doesn't know we are still dating? I decide to go back and tell him, but it ends up with him telling me to kiss his posterior. I would much rather kiss a different part of him… like his cheeks or his lips even.

Well, now that my computer is fixed, I might as well take my tech support calls. Some person called to tell me that they accidentally erased everything on Google Docs. It was so funny and such an easy fix. I just told them to press the undo button and they were, like, wow, witchcraft. Some people are even denser than Alfred. The next person had a much harder problem, however. Seems they had an extreme virus on their computer and the person seemed incapable of following my directions. Luckily, I was not face to face with the very manly sounding woman or else I would have punched her in the face. I actually called her a sir by accident because she had one of those raspy smoker's voices.

Anyway, in a quiet time period of no calls, I hear an American singing peculiar song lyrics and so I stop him. Well, I didn't think that me telling him I did not love him would have such an impact on him that he started singing sad songs about how much he thought I was a plague just because I did not love him anymore. Fortunately, it just happened to be the song playing and he thought I was rather egotistical, but I felt like his voice was lying.

Considering that it is almost the end of the day, I should start packing up. Hm… I am still not clear whether or not we are dating. Alfred is too stupid to give me a simple yes or simple no, honestly. I want to make this work and I want to love him again, but he isn't being clear enough. I resort to asking him directly instead of demanding we date again and then we come to reminisce about our first date at a restaurant. Oh, it was a lovely time.

I am distracted as he slaps me across the face, but I brush it off because he still has more to say. I explain to him what I meant and for some reason, it was punch-worthy. I suppose this is just a lover's quarrel although I do not feel love and so, I punch him back. When he punches me back once again, though, I feel the vessels in my tongue breaking and so I spit out the awful metallic taste. Alfred will pay. I punch him in the stomach and proceed to kick him. Ah, this is causing a smile on my face. Pain and fear always does.

All the sudden I feel the wind knocked out of me as I fall to the ground. Now, a grumpy American is punching me in the face repeatedly. I cannot have that, can I? I start choking him a little bit and flip us over. A realization hits me when Alfred starts crying like a child. Why am I fighting back? I suppose, I do feel hatred for him… and now that I do, I suppose, I realize what is enough. My poor Alfred is lying on the ground in tears. I am wondering whether it is of pain or emotional distress. Maybe both.

Therefore, since Alfred has breached my pities and actually has made me care about him again, I take him towards the elevator. He goes limp in my arms upon entering it. This worries me a little bit. Even when I absentmindedly poke him, he does not awake. Oh, I shall not start crying over something as silly as a fist fight, but it is really worrying. My nose hurts very much, too.

Well, now that I have him in my car, the only thing that is left to do is to take him to the hospital. Once there, they immediately take him and I also decide to check myself in because I know that my eye is almost closed shut and my jaw is broken. Also, my nose probably is, too. It hurt to speak those insults to Alfred, honestly. Hurt, not in the metaphorical sense, but in the literal one because my jaw is broken. They ask me what happened. I wonder what I should tell them.

"I… um… Well… Ya nye mogu govorit po-anglisky." Yes, that seems like a suitable answer. My translator is knocked out cold and such. Actually, Alfred doesn't even know a thing of Russian and I expect these doctors do not either. I was at a loss for actual English words. What really did happen? Alfred and I were mad at each other, consumed of rage, so we got into a fist fight. That's all I can explain. I would like to call it a misunderstanding, but I feel like we understood each other perfectly.

Like all Americans who come across foreigners who can't speak English (although I can), they grin at me stupidly and nod. They see me as inferior. Let's see if this one will be as stupid to start speaking his words slowly and loudly to see if I will understand, which I will, but I just told him I can't speak English in Russian even though I can.

"Do…" he points at me, "you haaaave health in-shore-ants!" Figures. Stupid Americans… trying to speak to foreigners in their own language but louder and more stupidly like we can understand it the second time said in a different way.

"Yes, I do… In my wallet." Well, I lied. So what. It isn't like the doctor knew what I told him in Russian. Oh, his shocked face makes my heart skip a beat. I just totally humiliated him right there. Anyway, he hands me a form since they had to take me in immediately, two forms actually, one for Alfred and one for myself. "What is my relation to Alfred…?" I ask myself, my eyes glancing at that section of the form. I have to sign for him since he is unable. This is why. Anyway, the doctor leaves me alone to sign the forms. Luckily, I pickpocketed Alfred for his wallet while he was out because I knew that I was going to need it for forms and such.

Anyway, I fill out the parts I know with the help of Alfred's wallet. I can get his social security code from his social security card, which he also keeps stupidly in his wallet. I'm pretty sure he has ADHD. He seems to get distracted way too easily and is often too hyper for me all the time. As for whether or not he takes any pills, I have no idea. I'll just leave that blank, along with his allergies. I'll assume he has none. Hopefully, I am not wrong. That could be horrible. Anyway, finally I get to that part about my relationship with him… I skip it for now, just signing the form because he is out. Now, I'll start on my own form. It is really easy since I know myself like an open book. I guess the time has come for me to fill out the relationship part on Alfred's form unfortunately.

I suppose since I have developed some sort of hate for this adorable American at this point and I really care about him, it seems fitting to write "boyfriend." Then again, wouldn't Alfred get mad at me? Well, I don't care about his opinion. It just further fuels his hate, which is good for me because it gives him room for other passionate feelings. I explained this prior to myself and to Alfred, I believe. Besides, I think he is too dimwitted to figure out his real feelings anyway. In really nice handwriting, I write _boyfriend._ Ah, just a lover's quarrel, as I thought before.

Finally, the doctor comes back to collect the forms and I hand them to him. He reviews over them and sees the reason we have come in here. That being possibly fractured bones and bruises all over. I'm pretty sure I fractured a rib in Alfred's body… possibly his nose as well. I'll definitely need to take him to the optometrist's office or he'll have to wear his silly prescription goggles until he has enough money to get new glasses. Although that would be funny, he is my boyfriend. At least, that is what I have figured at this point. My lovely idiot for a boyfriend. Ah, he is so cute thinking he can best me in a fight. Of course, he has gotten closer than any other man. For now, I shall wait for someone to come back and help me.

A nurse comes back with an ice pack for my eye. She tells me to hold it there until the bone specialist comes back. They want to x-ray my nose and my jaw since it looks pretty banged up. Ah, my strong little Alfred. Once the doctor comes back, he gestures me to an unnecessary wheel chair, but that is just how they transport everyone around here when they need to move them quickly. Apparently, broken jaws can cause people to die from blood going into the digestion track or air tubes, etc., so that is appropriate… even though I can walk. I step into the wheel chair and the nurse rushes me off to the x-ray room.

"Weeeeee!" I squeal although it hurts to open my mouth. Anyone who judges me better prepare to die because I've never had a nurse escort me so quickly throughout the hospital in a wheelchair. I keep a childish streak sometimes (but not all the time like precious Alfred). It's not fun to be a normal and boring adult. Anyway, now that I am in the x-ray room, they put a lead coat over me and tell me to lie down on a bed. I close my eyes and they take a few pictures of my nose and my jaw. I am taken off the bed and escorted back to my room. The nurse tells me to stay in my wheelchair just in case.

Within a few minutes of waiting, the doctor comes back with a frown on his face. Bad news, I see. He tells me that I am going to need surgery because my jaw is practically shattered from being punched so much. I blame Alfred. He started the fight anyway. Now, I am once again rushed off by a nurse in the wheelchair, but this time, I'm going to the surgery room.

They put me on a bed and put this peculiar mask over my face. Some kind of air goes through it. It smells kind of sweet, but kind of like a gas I would not want to inhale on a daily basis, like gasoline or something. They tell me to take deep breaths. Honestly, the bright lights in the room are kind of freaking me out right now, especially with doctors in masks hovering over me. I feel threatened almost and start hyperventilating a little bit as they press down on my arms and legs. Before I know it, everything… turns… black…

The next thing I know, I wake, feeling all groggy, as such and there is a dulling pain in my mouth. It also feels hard to move. There are wires keeping my jaw in place. I can feel the elastic and the metal. Also, there are bandages all over my nose. There are wires attached to me with a clear liquid going through it. Hm…

"You can go home now, Mr. Braginsky, but we can't have you driving," they state in a slow and calm voice. For some reason, their voices sound like the most hilarious things in the world, so obviously, I must laugh at what they are saying no matter what because it is just so funny, the stuff that they are saying and how… how AMERICAN their voices sound. Just, how American! It's a riot! I am starting to laugh uncontrollably at this point, but I stop as another one of them asks me: "We need you to call someone to take you home. We need to free up your room." They hand me a telephone. I dial up Natalya after I finish laughing hysterically and she answers.

"Allo, sestra! These Americans have such weird accents!" I laugh. Okay, I'm not over their accents yet. "I… I… Alfred and I we got checked into a hospital because we got into a battle, a lover's battle!" I exclaim. I can hear her gasp on the other side. I don't see what the problem is.

"What?! What did he do to you? Where does it hurt?!" Okay, those are some odd questions.

"In… my mouth…?" I tell her. I don't really see why she is freaking out so much right now, honestly. I start laughing again because of how freaked out she is getting. It is rather humorous.

"Hold on, Vanya! I am going to pick you up!" She seems to be really mad at me or someone. She seems mad regardless. I wonder what she is thinking right now, but for now, all I can do is laugh at it. I feel really dead right now, but in a good way. Dead as in relaxed, not dead as in well, the horrible meaning.

"She is going to pick me up! My sister is!" For some reason, I feel the need to tell the doctors who is coming. Anyway, they disconnect the IV, lift me off the bed, and put me in the wheel chair. I try and rub my nose, but they slap away my hand. I respond with a pout… because how dare they! Despite going slower this time, I shout, "Weeeeeee!" again. I don't know why. I just feel like it. I raise my hands up in the air as they push me. People are looking at me weirdly. "I will kill you later!" I giggle with glee.

After about thirty minutes, my jaw starts hurting more profusely and I want to move it, but alas, the elastic is keeping me from doing that. I overhear the doctors talking about when someone's morphine will wear off. They must be talking about my morphine because I am feeling in so much more pain than I was earlier around the jaw and nose areas. It causes me to frown. I look at the clock, wondering when Natalya will get here.

A few more minutes pass and the pain is unbearably annoying at this point. I am wondering whether or not I could get another morphine injection to get rid of it, but I heard that stuff makes you kind of loopy and drowsy. Finally, someone opens the door and it is Natalya. I get up from my seat and hug her because I want to get out of here. I also want to visit Alfred, though. I pull away after a moment, but she does not… I tell her to stop hugging me. At least, she complies. She hands me my clothes and I go into the restroom to change. Luckily my shirt is button-down. I can avoid my nose and jaw that way. I come out of the bathroom now and am bombarded with questions.

"What did you and Alfred do to get to the hospital? How did he break your jaw?!" What did I tell her to make her freak out so much. This seems very unusual, to be honest.

"He punched it… with his fist… I punched him back… He's probably around here somewhere," I smile at her. I want to visit my Alfred, my very stupid Alfred. He is probably dying to see me, not literally, I hope. After all, I did put that I was his boyfriend on the form.

"Were you clothed?" Okay, now what does that have to do with anything? I am very confused at her questions right now. They are really annoying, too, because I don't know what I said to make her ask all of these questions.

"Yes… I was." She sighs in relief and links her arm in mine. She wants to go home, but I want to visit Alfred because if I am out of surgery, he must be out of surgery by now. After all, I had to fill out a bunch of forms and they just rushed him off like that. Then again, my procedure was probably entirely different. "Let's go visit Alfred first…" I can tell my sister does not like that idea, but I will pull her along with me anyway. I decide to ask someone where Alfred is and they escort me to him. I am not pleased with what I see…

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><p><em>I might add another chapter later today... even though it's pretty late (or tomorrow), to be honest. I kind of feel like writing more, but I didn't want to make this, like, a fifty thousand word chapter. Besides... SUSPENSE.<em>


	9. Chapter 9

_Oops, I guess I published it the next day. But that further adds suspense!_

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Alfred looks entirely helpless. There is an ace bandage on his ribs to keep them in place basically and his nose is all bandaged up as well and there seems to be a brace on his neck. I must have choked him too hard. I would smile, but I actually feel terrible for hurting someone for once. At least, I am not the only one to get this ridiculous nose bandage thing, though… However, it is a little more prominent on my face since my nose is longer than his. I am certain of it. I walk over to my sweet Alfred and sit beside him. Oh goody, he is awake.

"Hello, Alfred. Are you having fun?" I smile at him. Most of our conversations consist of silly banter. Why should I not keep this going? He glares at me and sighs. Not talkative today. No retort. This is worrisome as well. "Your jaw does not look bandaged up… I am sure you can say some sort of nonsense." No answer still. This is not nice… "Are you mad at me even though you started the fight?" That is all I can figure right now.

"You called me your boyfriend on the official documents?!" he shouts at me. There is the shouting I wanted. I smile at him in an amused fashion. He attempts at sitting up, but all I hear is a high pitched shrill. He lies back down on the bed and gazes at a little controller. That shriek caused me to frown but I think I got the memo. I grab the remote and adjust the bed for Alfred so he can sit up without having to cause unneeded pain to himself. He presses on a little button and that clear package in the IV that I had seems to empty itself a little bit.

I watch as a small and goofy grin forms on his face. He seems to be more relaxed now that the clear liquid was injected directly into his blood stream. I believe it is morphine. At least, that is what I am assuming. Anyway, I clear my throat. I feel like I should probably speak now even though I think everything that will come out of my mouth will sound like jokes to Alfred in this state.

"Yes, I did… because I felt like there was no term to describe our complicated relationship better." Luckily, Natalya has decided to wait outside. After that awkward experience, she feels like she doesn't want to see Alfred. She also mumbled something along the lines of "I should have dated this idiot to keep him away from you," which of course, I chose to dismiss. Ah, where is my nicer… less creepy sister when I need her? She is trapped in Ukraine, unfortunately.

"Well, that's absolutely fine, dude! Cuz… I am, like, so not over how attractive your ugly commie face is." I wonder if I should point out he used an oxymoron or call him an oxymoron. Either way, his word choice is entirely moronic, especially since he wasn't even born when Russia was communist. I wasn't either, but it isn't like my parents were in favor of a communist society either. Really socialist/totalitarian. "I mean, I can't believe how badly I ruined your face. Hahaha! Now, I don't have anything to mindlessly stare at in work!" He is an idiot. And high off morphine. How can I get a good reaction from him?

"Oxymoron." Okay, I said it. He stares at me with utter disbelief. Then, he just shrugs. Alright, I feel like I can't really infuriate him unless I want to make him cry by shooting various insults at him. I already made him cry yesterday. This is not something I want happening too often. "It is when you put two conflicting terms together in literature…" I explain. I might as well talk about what I want to talk about if he is going to be all boring.

"You know… I've been conflicted lately," Alfred points out. Okay, this should be interesting. I wonder if Alfred is going to open up his heart to me in his morphine-induced stupor.

"Humor me…" Maybe I should say something less metaphorical. He looks like he is actually trying to come up with a joke. Alfred is about ten times more ignorant on morphine, I have concluded. "I mean tell me what it is you are conflicted about…" This is draining my patience… having to talk with a drugged idiot. He is such a nuisance sometimes, I swear, but I partially like him nonetheless.

"I have been thinking a lot about you lately… and our past and such, you know. I had a dream while I was out… You were a princess stuck in a castle and I was your knight in shining armor, but you stabbed me when we kissed. I'm very conflicted like my dream. On one end, I really hate you and resent any feelings towards you, but on the other…" Alfred seems to stop. Am I not going to hear the rest of this ridiculous spiel? I would not have a problem with it. "On the other… I really love you… too much. So much… still." Oh, well, that changes things. Does the truth come out on drugs? I have no idea. Sometimes it does when drunk, I suppose.

I stare at him incredulously. I wasn't smiling throughout the entire ludicrous speech and I am not smiling now. What do I even say? He's all out of it, so I suppose I should reply in a very dumb way instead of actually saying what I want to say.

"Was I a pretty princess?" I ask softly, a smile twitching on my face. I wonder if I was actually a prince, but he is just thinking up wrong words. That better be the case. If it isn't, I certainly will never ask this question again. Ever. About anything. No matter the circumstance. Even if I was drunk and someone told me I dressed up in a frilly dress.

"No, you looked really ridiculous… You were wearing an orange and yellow dress with a corset. You held a sunflower in your hand. I remember you liked sunflowers. Do you still like them?" Okay, Alfred has really weird fantasies, I have figured. At least he remembered something of importance, like my favorite flower. I am a little insulted to know that I was not a pretty princess to him. I mean, why would he fantasize that if I was not drop dead gorgeous? It doesn't matter. I don't like that I was fantasized as a princess in general.

"Yes. I do… They remind me of the sunshine…" I tell him. Alfred reminds me of the sky and the sun, too. His eyes are sky blue and his hair is golden like the sun. Alfred is my own little personal sunlight. I came from a place that gets barely any sun. Even in the summer, clouds and rain would fill the sky in an unending way. It was really depressing. Even English people got more sun than me. I sigh in these thoughts, a sad smile forming at my past. Such a terrible past… and I'm not even welcomed back to my home country, never to see my big sister again.

"Your hair reminds me of the moon… It's kind of shiny like that… and a silvery color like it, too." It's a silvery-blondish color, but I suppose, yes, it does resemble the moon in color and luster. Alfred sticks out his hand to my hair. I lean away from it, but alas, he still manages to touch it. It feels unnatural to have my hair pet, yet Alfred is doing so. I feel like crushing his wrist, so he won't pet me, but I suppose there is no reason to keep him in the hospital longer. He and I have to take a few sick days now. After a few moments, he pulls his hand away from my hair. Good. I give him a glare. I can feel Natalya looking in. I suppose it is my time to leave.

I respond to Alfred's inappropriate gesture and put my hand in his hair. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to mind it like how I did. I sigh out of annoyance and get up from my seat. I suppose I will just say my goodbye. A wave and the words should do it. Now, I walk out to the door. My sister immediately latches onto me. I am so glad I do _not _live with her. That would be torture. She still has to drive me home, though. The doctors think I might still have morphine in my blood. I don't feel too loopy, but it is like drunk driving: I wouldn't want to risk it, especially not with my sister.

She takes me to her truck. She drives a very manly car for a feminine-looking creature. Maybe this is just gender stereotype. My parents were rather conservative, though, so it is really strange how my family turned out. Of course, my older sister is still an innocent and beautiful, conservative woman. As for me or my younger sister, my parents would probably be wondering where they went wrong. That doesn't bother me, though. I don't think it does. I would have to analyze my past more.

Anyway, I step into the truck and strap myself in. Natalya knows where I live. I live in an apartment near the sea in San Francisco. It is really pretty to be in. It is kind of a bachelor pad since I have been terribly abstinent for the years I have lived here. I used to live in Russia, but now I live here. It is because I wanted to travel, but I loved it so much more in America… and the president just passed a ridiculous law. It just seemed appropriate.

Apparently, a new person moved into this building. I wonder if it is Alfred. That would be funny. It's too bad he has to stay overnight at the hospital or else would pester him more. Of course, not enough to get into a fist fight, though.

After about a half an hours, my sister pulls up to the tall flat (as in apartment) building. It is really nice. The rooms have hardwood floors and I made sure to install chrome fixtures to match the ambiance of the glass windows and the wooden floors. Also, granite for my kitchen island and counters, but that doesn't matter. It is an expensive apartment, especially since it is by the sea, but Google gives me good paychecks every two weeks.

"Darling brother, do you need me to walk you in?" I shake my head. I do not want her to walk me in. My sister is very overbearing oftentimes, so I prefer to distance myself from her… to keep a healthy brother/sister relationship. Then, of course, she had to apply for a job where I worked to be near me. I would nervously laugh, but that would be kind of random considering these are just my thoughts. "I will take you in anyway… What if you fall on your face and ruin your beautiful nose and jaw line further?" Things like that… they creep me out. Is there a cold draft in this car? I shiver… It hurts to speak very much, so I can't really retort or argue passionately about why I don't want her bringing me up.

Without saying anything, I feel it best to get out of the truck now. She gets out after me and wraps her arms around me. I continue to feel a shivering sensation. Also, it is not like I can't walk or anything. She is just being inappropriate to me.

"I… can walk…" I say quietly in order not to open my mouth too widely. If I do, I don't have morphine to numb the pain, not that I need it. I am just in extremely annoying pain right now, which is saying something because I usually take joy in pain. I suppose I actually take joy in others' pains, not my own. That makes more sense. This really hurts still, even with a high pain tolerance.

"And…?" she asks me. I knew she wouldn't let go if I said that. My sister is also persistent, but at least, she isn't tiringly dumb like my Alfred is. Of course, I like him nonetheless. My sister, I am not liking right now. I love her, but she is too intense. I can't even tell her that I love her because of how intense she gets about my feelings and how they relate to her own.

"I can't speak very much… And my jaw hurts. I just want to go up to my house alone. Please, malenki sestra…" Maybe if I call her something that sounds cute in Russian, she'll leave me to my own devices. Oh yes, it does work. She pouts a little bit angrily briefly, but then, she lets go of me. We say our goodbyes and finally, I can go up entirely by myself. Unfortunately, I am going to have to cancel my daily talking sessions with myself, but that is no matter. Once I get to my flat, I decide to just fall asleep. This pain is wearing me out, as does all pain.

I can't help myself from thinking about precious Alfred, though. He causes me to painfully smile often despite being infuriating and filling me with hate. I suppose it is because I really like him. I wonder if he understands my reasoning yet. My hatred for him fuels my passion for loving him because it is a rather passionate emotion, hate. Therefore, the more I hate him, the more I care about him and love him. I feel like I have reached an impasse with my feelings.

This decision has to be decided. Whether it be tomorrow or in thirty years, I need to figure this out. It is causing the both of us physical and emotional pain. I can tell in the way that Alfred looks at me. It is saddening. These thoughts are restricting me from falling asleep, however. Like it was said, these thoughts can wait and I suppose that I will wait to figure them out. Maybe my dreams can help me anyway.

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><p><em>Still in Ivan's point of view obviously. I might write another chapter to discuss his dreams. I felt like this chapter would be too long with the dream... but now, it's shorter. Oh well, it was between a short one and a freakishly long one. Sorry for my rambling. Heheh.<em>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

The scenery is red, very red. Red happens to be my second favorite color next to purple, so I am not very fazed by the color. It is even my favorite shade of red, blood red. I seem to be rising up from the color into a more colorful world around me. The sky is blue and everything else (besides the sunflowers) is a nice light pink color, another one of my favorite colors. Of course, I would never admit to liking pink, but that doesn't matter.

I look down at myself. I seem to look normal, except for my clothing attire which happens to be more pink. I feel embarrassed in these clothes, so my cheeks are heating up to match the pink color of the fluffy and warm clothes I am wearing. Considering this is my dream, I feel as if I should be able to change my attire, but alas, this is not the case and I am still a fluffy and pink bunny.

To make my misery even more prominent, I have decided to dream of Alfred while I am wearing this ridiculous pink get-up. This has put me in a bad mood, but I am still smiling. The American is approaching. Oh dear. Blush. How dare my attire be this silly? He is wearing something white and angelic and I am in probably my big sister's flannel pajamas or something with its warmth, frilly accents and just all out adorableness.

"Um… h-hello, Alfred…" He better not give some sort of insult towards my way. I know what I am wearing and I know that it is very worthy of being insulted. Luckily, he smiles at me and does not seem to be giving the indication of an insult. He usually has some sort of smirk or sneer on his face if he is going to be smiling while insulting me. I usually go a different route and smile happily while insulting him instead of giving him an evil smile.

"Hey!" He elongates that "hey." It sounds very annoying instead of just a normal and short greeting of hey. It is like that thing Fonzie does, but with an h. Well, that is just the very annoying and dim-witted Alfred I know. This is a dream. I don't really know what is going to happen next. Everything seems to be pink and made of clouds, though, like a cotton candy city. Alfred pushes me on the chest and I stumble back.

I growl at him and push him back. He laughs like an idiot and pounces me to the ground. I am not sure whether to be mad and start choking him again or wait to see what he wants to do. After all, this is a dream, so it isn't really an offense if I want to choke Alfred just a little bit more. My murderous thoughts seem to subside as I feel a pair of lips being pressed to mine.

"Why do you hate me so much, Ivan?" he asks me after we are finished kissing, which only lasted about a few seconds. I wonder how many times I have to explain this to Alfred. Even in my dreams I have to explain it to him. I sigh out of annoyance at the stupid and constant question he seems to be asking me and roll my eyes. His face is only centimeters away from me. He could very well kiss me again.

"I have told you before Alfred… It is because hatred is filled with passion and I feel like it makes the love more passionate." This is the last time I want to explain it. A sudden laugh escapes my lips. That is mostly because Alfred is making my tickle by placing soft little kisses to my neck. My scarf is not apparent. He must see the scar I made on myself so many years back in high school. "Stop it." I do not like all these cute little forms of affection.

"Why do you hate me, Ivan?" he repeats. I just explained this to him. Is he even dense in my dreams? I do not get it. It is making me impatient, but at least he has stopped being ridiculously affectionate to me. "Love and hate are two totally different emotions. I can't understand you…" Well, he has a point, but he is an idiot, so I wouldn't expect him to understand. "Do you understand…? You aren't explaining it to me in a way I can understand."

This is excruciating. What is with all these meaningless questions? I find myself stuttering over my words even so. I must be becoming an idiot. Idiocy is contagious apparently. This question seemed so easy to me at one point. Hm… I actually do not know how to answer those last questions so I reply with a simple "I don't know…" More stupid questions come my way.

"Do you love me or hate me then? They can't coexist…" He states that last sentence as if it is a fact. Ha! I beg to differ. It can coexist, I think. That has been my reasoning so far, so why would it not be true? Considering this is a dream, I suppose that means that I am doubting myself. Maybe Alfred is visiting my dreams, though, and making me think this way… making me be confused. I doubt that is the case.

"I… find you very annoying… but really cute… and precious. Sometimes you make me incredibly angry at you, but… but I still care about you, so I suppose… that I…" get distracted by a buzzing sound and wake up without any realizations and no clue as to what I dreamed about anyway.

My alarm is useless today, though, but considering the ringing awakened me, I sit up in my bed. Since I was sent to the hospital, Alfred and I get some paid sick days to a point. If I still need to recover past the paid area, they will become unpaid, but I doubt that will be the case for me, anyway. My jaw feels a little bit stiff right now. It hurts a lot, too. I need someone to get me some pain relievers or something. I try to move my jaw around a little, but the elastics are stopping it. What do I eat for breakfast? The doctors actually supplied me with a list. It consists of everything, but it has to be blended until I get the wiring and elastics removed by medical officials.

It is about seven o'clock right now. I work from nine to five usually, sometimes longer, but I get paid for overtime, so it is no big deal if I do work over a couple hours. I should just fall back asleep and so I do, but I don't manage to have any dreams worth mentioning in that time. The second time I am awakened by another ringing sound, but this time, it is me getting a phone call. I answer it tiredly because I just woke up.

"Hey, man. I'm allowed to go home… and I have no one else to call. My… my dad, he skipped out on me again… that bastard." Again? What does Alfred mean by again? Either way, I am surprised that he has called me. However, I am a little bit curious as to what Alfred's father has done to be called a bastard. Alfred seems to be a little depressed-sounding.

"Yeah… I will pick you up since I took you there," I laugh a little bit with my mouth closed. It is no trouble for me. I can drive perfectly fine. Also, maybe I can pick up stronger than drug store pain relievers at the hospital drug store. They tend to have stronger and better stuff… or at least, I would think. This pain is unbearable. Maybe I should just get some prescribed pain relievers.

Either way, I have to pick up Alfred, so I put on a robe over my pajamas and some comfortable shoes. I do not really care what people at the hospital think of me. Also, it hurts my nose to pull a shirt over it, so I just want to stay in what I am wearing, aka, a light yellow long-sleeved shirt that says something in Russian on it and some grey plaid, flannel pants. My robe is a light pinkish color like my scarf. Now, all that's left to do is drive to the hospital.

It takes around twenty minutes to get there and I go up to Alfred's hospital room. He seems to laugh as soon as I enter it. I give him a glare, but it fades away quickly. He is just laughing about how pink and "girly" my robe is. I got it in a men's section, believe it or not.

"I'm… uh… I hurt, but I can go home," he tells me. "They prescribed me some strong pain reliever pills." Oh, exactly what I need, but I suppose it would not be right to take Alfred's pills. After all, he probably has a much weaker pain tolerance than me. I roll a wheelchair over to where he is. The nurses have already removed his intravenous tube. I help him stand up and take a seat in the chair. It is really cute how helpless he is. However, he is also making me want to cry because of how pained and non-smiley he looks.

Well, I wheel him out of the room and down to the lobby of the hospital. They tell me I can't take the wheelchair in the parking lot because it is hospital property. What if people can't walk like how Alfred is right now? Then what? They are being difficult, but no matter. I lift Alfred up. This time, he is actually wrapping his arms around my neck and burying his face in my chest. It's a nice change.

I even have to strap Alfred in like a child. It is suiting, though, since he behaves like a child. He wants the seatbelt to be looser over his broken rib, but I don't want to loosen it because 1) if we get in a car accident, he will die. As much as I want to see him die, I don't want it by car accident. Actually, there is only one reason. Therefore, I keep the seatbelt on him.

"Where do you live?" He tells me an address and my face lights up with glee, he actually lives in the same apartment building as me, which is great! He is a few floors below me, but that is no matter. We live near each other. My heart is fluttering. I can feel it. "I live in that building!" I say to him ecstatically. His face seems somewhere in between fear and disgust. I don't know why, though. Either way, it takes me a rather short time to get back to the building. "Alfred, do you have someone to spend Christmas with?" I ask him. I hope he is a very lonely fool because then he has no choice but to hang out with his boyfriend.

"No… I moved away from Kiku and my bro… and my mom… to take this stupid job. Are you trying to make me depressed?" he asks me. No, that it not my intention, dear Alfred. I do not say that aloud, but I'm sure the wide smile on my face tells him what I am thinking.

"Do you want to hang out with me on Christmas? I'm just going to be hanging out in my apartment probably…" I don't really celebrate Christmas, though. It was never a big deal in my family, I suppose. Sure, we would do presents and such and sometimes even decorate a tree, but it was never really a big ordeal. Now, the New Year's celebration. That was something. I can picture it now.

"Maybe just so I'm not depressed…" Alfred snarls. Ah, this is great. I will be hanging out with Alfred during Christmas, if we are well enough. I'm glad that I have work off anyway from Christmas Eve to New Year's. This is fantastic and I might have enough time to recover.

After a few minutes, I finally get back to the apartment building and I take off Alfred's seatbelt for him. Then, I proceed to pick him up very carefully again in order to not damage his pitifully fragile bones. I suppose I will take him to his apartment and place him in his bed. He seems to be in comfortable clothes, so that is a relief.

I feel a heat forming on my cheeks as Alfred wraps his arms around my neck again. I am going to assume that he is just doing that so he will not fall down if I accidentally lose my hold on him, but it is really cute, so I will believe that he is doing it because he finally realized that I am his boyfriend. He has his face buried in my chest which makes him even cuter. I wish that this moment could never end.

When I come up to his apartment, he hands me a key from his pocket. I stand him up for the moment. He leans on me to keep his balance. Then, I open his door with the key before lifting him up once again. He seems to be blushing similar to a beet which I would put in borscht. I find it rather cute and chuckle a little bit. His apartment seems to be decked out in Christmas lights, but he doesn't have a tree. Would they even allow trees in apartments?

Either way, I find his bedroom and place him on the bed. He looks so lonely on a giant king bed. I decide to climb on the bed next to him. Boyfriends lie next to each other, so I see this as no big deal. Besides, I can see how cute Alfred's face is (even with that ugly bandage on his nose) up close. I am glad that Alfred is not shouting at me. In fact, he turns over to lie on me, whispering a small thank you in my ear.

"You're like a chubby marshmallow… All squishy and soft like that…" I'm not sure if I am supposed to be offended or complimented at that comment. Alfred seems to be fond of my softness, but on the other hand, he basically called me fat. No, he did call me fat. I don't know how to respond really. Before I am able to respond he demands, "Get me my pills from the pharmacy… I'm hurting… Please."

Sigh, I suppose I will have to move from this perfect position with Alfred in my arms. Oh, poo. I get up anyway and leave Alfred lying on the bed. I have the prescription in my pocket. While I'm at the CVS, I suppose that I could find some lower dose over-the-counter pain relievers for the constant pain in my nose and jaw... I forgot to go to the hospital drug store.

Well, my short and sweet moment with Alfred where I actually did not hate him and found him infuriating is now ended. I walk out the door probably never to see this place again for another fifteen minutes, which to me, feels like an hour away from my Alfred. One small step for Ivan, one giant step for Ivankind. I am very jealous that the Americans went to the moon before we did, but at least, we beat them in the space race. Yuri Gagarin, first man in space. Laika, first animal and dog in space. We also sent the first woman to space. My country is frankly the best and the biggest, except for our horrible laws.

Well, enough ramblings, I must fetch Alfred's medication. And so, I have embarked on my journey to find the morphine pills for my dearest, which I accidentally injured. Alfred started the fight. He provoked me, so obviously, this is not my fault. Besides, I could not just stand there and let him punch me without punching back, could I? For all I know, Alfred could have caused me a brain hemorrhage if I let him punch me as much as he wanted.

Now, I have arrived at the truck that I took Alfred here in and start driving off. I wonder how long I will be gone. Hopefully, there won't be a wait for the medicine. Then, I'll have to wait much longer for the medication. Alfred will be stuck there in the pain he caused himself basically. I, of course, laugh at this thought, but I am supposed to care about him as his significant other. Therefore, I shall get him his medicinal needs!

* * *

><p><em>I'm going to go back to Alfred's point of view or else the next chapter will be very boring about whether to go with generic or brand name medicine and just shopping at a general store (which CVS is DISCLAIMER) for idk, general store stuff like OTC medicine, gum, and toilet paper. That doesn't sound too exciting to write about, nor would I think it would be a thrilling read either.<em>


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I'm stuck at the hospital. I know I'm stuck at the hospital. 1) I have no one to call, but Ivan and 2) I can't move at all without feeling like I've fractured my rib again. To make it worse, the nurse disconnected me from the morphine because I told her that I got a ride. Now, I suppose that I have to call Ivan and so I do. Like usually, the man sounds too happy for me like an excited child trapped in a man's body. I can be the same I suppose sometimes, but Ivan makes it annoying.

After a few minutes of waiting, I see the cutest thing walk through the door, a man in a light pink and fluffy bathrobe. Of course, I start laughing at him because that is just unbelievably cute and unbelievably funny. The bandages on his nose also make him look more ridiculous, and he is like the Easter bunny with that stupid smile cute little smile on his face and his cheeks. Oh, his cheeks. Seriously, I see no reason for Natalya to be attracted to this guy. He's not manly or rugged at all! Unless, maybe if he were to not shave… I think that would be pretty sexy- What the heck, Alfred?! He is not your boyfriend. Not. Even though he put that on the form. In fact, I'm still angry about that!

Ugh, I can't wait to go home. I hurt so much right now. I gasp when he lifts me up. I'm forgetting about how strong he really is… mostly because of that girly-ass robe he is wearing right now. Sigh. I can't believe that I am actually blushing over this. Well, I can't show him my face, so I think I'll just press my cheek against his chest and wrap my arms around his neck. He'd make a great pillow, I've come to think. He's very soft even while carrying me. I wonder if he came over to my house just to cuddle in our high school years. That would have been nice. What am I thinking?! I can't possibly actually _like _him, can I? No… I _loved_ him at a point.

Finally, he has let me down, but that just gives him another chance to do a romantic gesture. Goddammit! Don't put on my seatbelt for me! I glare at him. Ugh, this seatbelt feels very terrible against my cracked ribs. They are only held in place by ace bandages and some stitching from surgery. This is by far the worst pain I've ever felt. My nose pain doesn't even feel too bad at this point. I must complain about the seatbelts. I want to take them off, but Ivan looks like he will murder me if I do.

Finally, after a long and excruciating wait and a terrible surprise that the communist actually lives in the same apartment building as me, I get home. He once again lifts me back up to which I resort to hiding my blush again before putting me down briefly to unlock my door. I can finally just lie down in my bed alone, no one else and just sleep off all this pain. As I close my eyes, of course, that Russian decides to lie down next to me.

My instincts tell me to use him like a pillow, so I move to him with a pain and wrap my arms around him. My efforts are not in vain, though, because he is actually rather comfortable. He's like a chubby marshmallow because he all squishy and tubby. Seriously. There is not manly thing about this guy. I proceed to tell him my thoughts. Haha, bastard seems to be blushing. I kind of want him to get out of my despite how comfortable I am, though. This just seems wrong to me. I don't know why. He's not boyfriend. He's not. Yes, that is why. I don't want him to be my boyfriend, so this cuddling and boyfriend crap is not for me. Therefore, to make him get out of bed, I tell him to go pick up my pain medication.

Wow, that was a dumb move. Now, I'm lying in pain with no one to hug it out. Okay, whatever. He'll come back soon and then I could cuddle with the big pink stuffed bear again. For now, I should just lie on my back and open the vault to my deep thoughts again even though I really do not like them. They are villainous thoughts, but there really is nothing better to do while Ivan's gone.

Alright, so onto unlocking my mind. All that I'm thinking about is Ivan. This is just great. I thought that my deep thoughts would actually have something useful, but they are just full of communist crap. This sucks, it really does. Speaking of Ivan, when is he coming back? I don't want to think of him, but now all my thoughts are centered around him.

Unlocking my deep and personal thoughts really suck. _Whenever I look at him, I feel something… something for him. He is so sweet sometimes, yet intriguing, mysterious. He is like a better half to me, but also a worst enemy. My relationship is so complicated, but for some reason, I wish it was not. I wish… we could just be together, no fighting, no hatred, but his own words burn into me. "I cannot love you without hate." What if I don't want to hate? His build, his unusual violet eyes, his sweet sense of caring from time to time, and his softness. They all make me __**in love**__ with him. I just can't let him know… I can't let myself know because… I know there is evil inside him. I don't want to get hurt. I already am, physically as I lie mewling in pain in this bed, waiting for him to come back to me and take that pain away… the pain __**he **__inflicted on me in the first place. _

Enough of those depression worthy thoughts, Alfred. They aren't helpful. I think I'll just lock them away again like a good sheriff does with the villains of the west. My sheriff seems to have been taking time off, but now he is back in business and those horrible thoughts will be back where they belong: in the hoosegow.

I shift uneasily as I realize that my sheriff has had too much to drink and is having trouble locking those thoughts up. Ivan is still the main thing going on in my mind, how evil he is, how much I am **in love **with him and how much I hate to be in love with him. I just hate it because I know that someday, it isn't just going to be bruises on my face. Maybe scars ridden deep in my heart or maybe he'll accidentally kill me. If we are supposed to be dating, maybe I'll call the police on him after he hurts me again… and then I realize while he's locked up, I can't live without him, that cruel beast. I need to get away… I don't know what is to come, but at least, I know where my feelings truly stand. _**I love him.**_

My thoughts are starting to all meld together, deep and not deep and I thought that I could keep those separate. I want to be thinking about the next episode of Gotham I want to watch or the Doctor Who Christmas special. I want to think about my old boss holding company parties and how drunk he would get. I remember when Arthur told me he would take me under his wing. I suppose that I spent so much time resenting him, I didn't realize how much I thought of him like… like an older brother I suppose. Well, now I am gone and I certainly do not miss how much extra work he gave me. Ah, my thoughts are turning happy again.

Unfortunately, they are cut short as a big and chubby Russian shouts, "Fredka! I have you pain pills!" Man, that was too brief. Ivan always ruins everything and yet, I am still head over heels for him. I must not let that show. I don't… want to get hurt like this again. I don't want to end up in the hospital at his hand, nor in a mental asylum from all the insults he throws my way. "What? Can you not speak? Have your brain cells really receded that much while I was gone?" There he is with the insults, calling me stupid once again, that infuriating ass. Goddammit. What do I even see in him? I think my thoughts are lying to me. At least, the good parts about him anyway.

"I can speak, ya asswipe. Give me the pills… I wanna knock myself out into a painless sleep and not have to look at your crummy face." His face is actually quite adorable, though, except with that ugly bandage over his ugly nose, but I have the same thing. It comes to my attention, though, now that I am looking at him, that he is not the only one that came out badly hurt from our scuffle. He has a big purple bruise on the side of his jaw and he can barely open his mouth two centimeters. His nose is very bandaged up and one of his eyes are closed shut, yet he still is caring for me despite what I did to him as well. If it was him unable to move, would I help him? Probably not…

"Not with that attitude," he chuckles. Man, he is an ass. I am in unbearable pain right now. Can't he see that? All those good thoughts I just had about him. Gone. He is just a big mean asshole, isn't he? "I mean, Alfred… I went all that way to get your pills. Isn't insulting me some kind of disservice?" Well, he does have a point there, but it is his fault. I can't stand to look at his face. Actually, I can, but with great difficulty. No, actually, if I stare at his face for too long I might die… or burst into tears. I feel bad and unheroic right now and I'm in pain. It's all his fault. I know it's his fault.

"Yeah… I guess, ya damn commie… Just give me the pills or get back on the bed or something…" I want to squeeze his marshmallow flesh again. It's so squishy and cute, oh my God. Wow, my thoughts are having mood swings… or maybe I am. Either way, I want to hug him. If there is one good thing that will come out of us "dating," it certainly will be the affection. Also, I could probably rub this in Natalya's face and make her pay. She is so hot, but she won't be mine and so, I guess I'll just have to go with the next hottest thing, her brother. I would evilly laugh, but I am a hero. Heroes don't evilly laugh. I will laugh at her reaction, though, not evilly. I've got a plan.

"How about I get you some water, yes?" he smiles a little bit at me. What would I need water for? Oh yeah. Well, it's not like I can get up from my bed. I have a neck brace on and my back hurts like hell. The good thing is that my neck is just bruised. It is not broken. The doctors said I could take it off after a few days. It is just for protection and so I don't accidentally move my neck the wrong way and then break it while my skin is so vulnerable and my bones are bruised.

It takes a minute for him to get back, but then, he hands me two little white pills and a glass of water. He tells me it will make me very drowsy, which I already knew since it is morphine and morphine makes people loopy and tired. What really made me blush, though, is that he said he would stay with me until I fell asleep. He has to prop me up, so I can at least swallow. This is getting annoying and painful. Once the pills are down, he climbs in next to me, pulling me down to lay flat once more.

Ah, my chubby marshmallow is back finally! I roll onto him in a way that will cause the least pain possible and wrap my arms around him once more. He really will stay until I fall asleep? I'd like to see him try. I give his fat a little squeeze and laugh to myself. There is one thing I know, I will never feel fat around this guy. I used to have a lot of issues about my weight, but Ivan just makes it all better because he is much bigger than me. Maybe not much, but still a lot bigger than me.

"Nice and squishy…" I bury my head within in Ivan's chest and close my eyes. I want to attempt to fall asleep before the morphine kicks in. When that kicks in, I will probably be pretty loopy, but I definitely will fall asleep. I am pretty restless right now, though. I would move around if I didn't hurt so damn much from trying so.

"Alfred, I really do not understand this fetish of yours. What is it with you and thinking that I am squishy… and chubby? Is that supposed to be an insult of sorts? It certainly sounds like an insult…" Ivan rambles. It's all just a bunch of mumbo jumbo to me right now. He doesn't really make sense to me. He thinks that I am insulting him? No, I am complimenting him on his softness and warmth. I find that rather cute in a man.

"I wonder how you would look in lingerie…" Wow, did I really just say that to him? I was thinking it and then, I guess it just came out. I snort to myself. I didn't really give him an answer did I. Oh, his face looks between angry and embarrassed. I feel so drugged right now, though, it's not even funny. I wouldn't be surprised if I started talking to myself instead of thinking.

"Th-that was random, Alfred…" Ivan stutters, his face resembling a tomato on a hamburger. I laugh at his blush. It is so dark and cute. Ivan is so cute. What the heck? Why haven't I been in love with this guy the whole time? He just- He is just so adorable and gets embarrassed at the easiest of things.

"I bet if I said a pick-up line to you, you would still blush…" I kiss him on the cheek. "You are so adorable," I whisper in his ear. I could just eat him up. He still looks like an Easter bunny in his pajamas and pink robe being all cute and blushy.

"A-ah… Alfred… Should I sing you something to make you fall asleep?" What am I? A baby? I can fall asleep without little songs and so, I shake my head to the best of my ability with this neck brace. I think he has got the memo. I feel like I'm on clouds right now, to be honest. I don't want to go to sleep. Nothing hurts anymore.

"Did it hurt?" I whisper in his ear. I see an eyebrow raise. He is so going to go along with it. If he doesn't, I'll still finish my pick line, though. Well, he doesn't ask anything, so I just say it, "When you fell from heaven? Cuz you look like an angel." Yes, I made him blush again! I am going to say more pick up lines to him because this is really funny. "I'll boldly go where no man has gone before! Wanna CAUCus with me?" Caucus. Say it out loud. Enunciate the two syllables. MUN pick up lines are the bomb. Besides, world leaders form caucuses all the time. His blush has increased ten fold. I feel proud of myself.

Then, I find this wave of fatigue rush over me. My eyes close and I suppose, I am going to fall asleep. This is a nice smell to fall asleep to, I suppose. His chest smells like mostly vodka, but I also smell snow and pine trees. Funny, it doesn't snow in California. Oh, I am also hit with the smell of leftover cigarettes, but it isn't as strong as the rest of the smells, the prettier smells. Soon, I am knocked out cold, thinking of the one I _love._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

To my dismay, I wake up to see the Stay Puft marshmallow man still next to me. I thought he would leave in the middle of the night like a one night stand or something. Well, there is nothing I can really do now, especially since my ribs still ache terribly. At least my neck feels better. Since there was just bruising, I could probably have Ivan take it off for me when he wakes up. I don't see why there is so minimal damage to his body when my beautiful body is horribly maimed. Goddamn, he can pack a punch. I know that next time (and I hope there is not a next time) I will win.

I do the only sensible thing there is to do: whine like a dog until Ivan hears me and wakes up. That seems like the right thing to do. It is about six o'clock according to the digital clock I can just barely see with my neck brace. Luckily, Ivan's soft chest is giving me enough leverage to see it. Anyway, I must commence with my exaggerated moans.

"OooOOOhhhhhh! Ivan! WAKE UUUUUUUPPP! I want you to make me breakfast and my ribs hurt thanks to you! Also, this neck brace is making my neck stiff! You have to remove it!" I gripe and whine. I was going to do it, so there. It is what Ivan deserves. The sun isn't even up. I realize that, but I do not care. He owes me for making me lose my health counters. Not even a Poké center can fix this, damn him. Luckily, it seems that my whining has seemed to make it past his ear drum because he actually is awakening. He groans in a soft way and turns his attention to me.

"What are you whining about, Alfredka?" he asks me. "I know you are very impatient and have the mind of a child, but could you have not waited until the sun was out?" I glare over at him for that comment. Such a heartless bastard. I bet he doesn't care about me at all. Then again, he did take me to the hospital and picked up my medicine, but I think he is just doing that out of pity or to prevent me from suing him or something! I don't even know why I love him so much. He is so mean to me sometimes…

"Can you just take off my freakin' neck brace?" I ask him. I kind of want to move around a little bit more. My ribs aren't the only thing restricting me from moving around. I can't move my neck and turn my head. Basically, I have to turn my entire body to even look at something, which is painful in this state. At least, Ivan is complying. He is staring down at me with his annoying smile and he unbuckles the straps before removing the thing. His smile disappears for some reason and he runs a finger along a side of my neck. It feels a little bit achy. I am just going to presume that there are purplish bruises that the Russian's sausage fingers left on my neck.

I huff at him and turn away before asking, "Can you… can you take me out of bed? I don't… want to be in bed all day." Well, being in bed is so boring, but I know that it is really hard to walk with a broken rib. I'd probably only be able to stand for about a minute without buckling over in pain. I didn't want to ask him this question while looking in his eyes because honestly, I am embarrassed. Also, his eyes are just so pretty. If I look into them too long, I feel like I might get trapped in his gaze and then he'd just eat me or kill me or something… like a siren.

Well, he doesn't eat me, thankfully, but he does pick me up from the bed. I look up at him and sigh. This time I don't feel like wrapping my arms around him. That was really embarrassing last time and I don't want to show him that I actually love him, so therefore, I will just pretend to hate him for now. Actually, I want him to go, come to think of it, but not before he makes breakfast for me. He better make breakfast for me because I can't. Or else, he better go out and get me an egg McMuffin or a McGriddle or something. Mm… yes, those sound good to me right now.

"Hey, can you get me a McGriddle, Ivan? I want one for breakfast!" I exclaim. I really do. Those are, like, the best things ever. First of all, there is syrup in the buns. Yes, syrup. And every breakfast needs a little syrup on top. My philosophy anyway. Also, they have egg and cheese in them, so that makes for a balanced breakfast obviously and then, there is the meat. McGriddles are just altogether awesome, kay?

"I swear, Alfred… McDonald's for breakfast. How are you not three hundred pounds, malenki parosyenok?" I wonder what he just called me in Russian. His Russian words are very annoying and they sound disgusting, so I don't like them. I respond to those gross Russian words by glaring up at him, crossing my arms in the process.

"I work out…" I reply reluctantly. I don't, but I have a lot of energy in me, so I often take long runs to get rid of my energy. I don't do it to work off the food. If I did it to work off the mass amounts of McDonald's hamburgers I consumed, I'd be fifty pounds lighter, but alas, I do not. As long as he doesn't call me fat, I'm fine with it. That wasn't calling me fat, I think. I think he was just wondering why I was not fat, in which case that is compliment. Unfortunately, now he seems to be snorting and laughing at my response.

"_You._ Work out? You wouldn't have the patience for that. I don't even have the patience for that…" I glare up at him. Can't he tell by my stunning body build that I totally work out even though I just lied to him to answer his stupid question? Okay, well, I see he saw through my lie, but I might as well pretend that it is actually true.

"I can tell you don't have the patience, Mr. Chubby Bunny," I spit back at him. He puts me down on the couch, smiling down at me like he is about to murder me. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have insulted him about his weight. I don't like to be insulted about my weight, so why should Ivan. Well, ugh. I don't care what happens to Ivan. Just cuz I love him doesn't mean I have to care about his feelings. I guess it actually kind of does… according to that Doctor Who episode. But why would I take advice from a TV show! A BRITISH ONE, NONETHELESS! Reminds me of my stupid old boss, Kirkland.

"I don't see why you are one to insult me like that, Alfred…" he tells me, "I would have thought that you of all people would know not to insult people like that…" Man, his face looks really sad now. It's causing me to bite my lip. He sits down on the arm of the couch since I am taking up all of it. I could probably sit up, but I like lying back on the couch.

"Gosh… I-I mean… that you are soft… and warm and cuddly. I like people like that…" Man, imagine how horrible it would feel to hug someone bony. It feels very uncomfortable. My old boss and I were brotherly close at one point and he is rather bony and small. I could feel his bones just poking into my flesh, especially if he was trying to push me away like he often did. So uncomfortable. Therefore, Ivan is really nice to hug.

Luckily, what I said made him smile at me and not in a murderous fashion. He is very cute when smiling truthfully, even with that ugly bandage over his nose or that bruise and those stitches on his jaw. I sigh in relief and decide to put my arms behind my head. "Sooo… are you gonna get me my McGriddle, babe?" What the heck? Why not go along with this silly dating thing? I mean, I don't think I'll get anywhere if I don't go with it. I love Ivan unfortunately anyway. His blush on his face. Babe isn't even really a blush-worthy word. I suppose it could just be that I have never called him something couples call each other.

"Can't I make you a more healthy breakfast, Alfred?" he asks me quietly and nervously. I decide to sit up despite the killer pains in my ribs and get into a more comfortable position. I could probably walk at this point… as long as the bandages don't move out of place. Oh, that's right, the doctor said I could get a brace and then, I could go to work. Well, I'm not ready to go to work. I'll go to work when Ivan goes to work. "I have to go to work in an hour, though…" I shouldn't have said that.

"Oh, you do?" I ask him. He nods his head, seeming a little bit impatient. I sigh deeply. I don't want to be here all alone when I could be doing my awesome job. "Can you get me a back brace…? And pick me up Mickey D's while you're out?" See what I did there? See what I fucking did there? Yes, I am going to go to work today and I tricked Ivan into getting me McDonald's. At least, I think I tricked him.

"Oh, fine…" Ivan sighs. Yes, I knew it would work and once again, the Russian walks out of my home. Well, since he is going to work and I don't want to be totally bored, I suppose I'll go to work with him. With the back brace, I should be fine… as long as I don't do any manual labor that has to do with lifting heavy things. I have to work on a New Year's design now. Since I got hurt, they just gave my Christmas assignment to a different person while I recover.

A half hour later, Ivan gets back with the brace and the delicious-smelling food. Ooh. He's nice. Anyway, he gives me the back brace and I go upstairs to change into my work clothes. I remove the tight bandages and strap on the back brace before heading back downstairs. I'll eat the McDonald's on the way to work. Ivan will have to drive. I'm not allowed to operate heavy machinery either, unfortunately.

"I'm going to work with you," I state, "because I have a project I need to work on in the animation room…" I purse my lips. I can be very stubborn, but Ivan can, too. Some of the memories I remember from our past there is always something constant in Ivan's reactions. He will do _whatever_ to make things go his way. It is unsettling and sometimes he will hurt people even. I even had to show up to detention one time just so that Ivan would not be "alone." It was an interesting argument. I'm still not going to admit that I love him…

"Okay…" he smiles down at me. No retort. How odd? I would have thought that he would have a retort or something. Well, whatever. I link my arm in his and we walk out to the car he took to my place. We live in the same apartment building, though, so he is in his own allotted parking spot. It's a better parking spot than mine, goddammit. It's closer to the apartment building. Gah! How dare he have a better spot than me? Regardless, I get into his car and cross my arms. He starts driving off to our work place.

"I hope my designs will look better this time…" I sigh. That first Christmas design I used kind of sucked. I couldn't even get it in on time due to this stupid injury, so now, I guess I'll just have to work on the New Year's one. Ivan stops the car in front of the building and he takes me inside, holding my hand. Why is he holding my hand? I don't want his fallacy to spread to work! I try to rip it away, but his grip is tight. Whatever means necessary. I can feel glaring eyes piercing into my soul. Natalya, obviously. She is really mad at me… for… various reasons. Well, I am totally over her! Yes! Totally not lying to myself!

Ivan takes me to the elevator and looks down at me. He is still holding my hand. "Fifth floor, bastard," I snarl at him. He presses that… and the sixth floor, his floor. He is still staring down at me. I am glaring back at him. I find all his niceties very suspicious. I love him, but he still really gets on my nerves, which is why I really really cannot ever tell him this until I absolutely find a reason that I have to. "Why are you staring at me?" I ask him reluctantly. It is getting creepy at this point.

"I am admiring you… I like the way your face looks." Ivan has such a smug grin on his face. I am so not going to let him get away with these petty compliments because damn it, I don't like blushing. My cheeks are so warm right now, but I think I will just dismiss that for now and just glare at Ivan. Blushing makes me feel so not like a hero and more like the damsel in distress. I especially feel like a damsel in distress currently because Ivan has to keep taking care of me.

"Stop it! You have to be the damsel in distress! Not me! Get into a pretty dress, please!" I snap at him all the sudden. I don't know what has gotten into me to say that out loud. I cover my mouth in shock. "I… I… Never mind." The only thing I can do now is just not look at him for right now. My floor beeps anyway. "See ya…" I say quietly before exiting the elevator.

I think I'll just go directly to the design room. That sounds like a fantastic idea. I need to talk to someone about this. Maybe that nice guy with the glasses… if he is in this department. He's like Ivan. He kind of floats around from section to section. Mostly, he works on computers, though. He is exactly like Ivan, but less intimidating, creepy, and wayyyyy easier to talk to and work with. He's even Eastern European. He doesn't seem to be in the department, though, so I go over to one of the tablets.

New Year's Eve… Well, I draw the skyscraper as the L and that giant ball as one of the O's. After an hour, I turn the E into a face blowing one of those ridiculous air horn things. The G is a bunch of confetti blowing in the wind and the other O turned into a person popping the little thing full of confetti that turned into the G. I finished it, so I suppose I'll submit it. Wow, four hours went by in just that. My eyes hurt. I think I'll just go nap off what I said to Ivan earlier. I deserve it after working for, like, four hours with broken, bruised ribs.

I walk into the elevator and Ivan is just waiting in there. I swear… Can I never get time away from him? This really sucks. I don't like him at all. At least, I don't like that he is here alone in the elevator with me again.

"Are you going to take a nap, Alfred?" he asks me. How did he know? Can he read minds? He is really creepy, but that just steps over the line. I wonder how my face looks- "You seem to be having trouble processing my question, dear Alfred. Did I kick your brain out?" Oh, he did not go there. I mutter profanities about Ivan to myself which are too explicit to even think about. I nod my head in answer to his question, though. "Yay! That is where I am going, too!"

"Never mind… I think I'll go talk to Eduard…" I say to him, a short growl in my voice. I want to avoid him. I get out at the floor that it stopped at and go up the stairs to meet Eduard, the glasses guy. He stumbles back. It seems he is surprised. "Oh yeah, Braginsky clocked me in the nose… And gave me a few hickeys," I avert my gaze. I don't really want to say what he actually did to me to Eduard, but I assume that is why he is so surprised.

"Oh… Wait, what?" Maybe I should have used something else. OH GODDAMMIT. This is what I was trying to avoid. I was trying to avoid us dating being spread around the office. Oh, if Eduard tells, it is going to spread like wildfire! This is the end of my life. I know it is. I'm dead. Alfred F. Jones, died of literal embarrassment. That is what it will say on my placard, along with lovely almost husband to Ivan Braginsky and that will really suck! I don't want that on there! Especially not the second one.

"Just forget I said anything!"


	13. Chapter 13

_Well, this chapter is going to be different. It is actually going to be set in a bunch of different people's points of views. It starts out in Estonia's POV. I'm sure you'll be able to figure out the rest of the characters from there, though. _

* * *

><p>Chapter 13<p>

I literally cannot believe what Alfred has just told me. This is news worthy practically and it definitely will have to go into my digital diary- I mean journal that I have on my computer. It's password locked. Anyone who tries to get in will cause my computer to get a nasty virus that only I can remove because I made it. Computers are my life, so of course, I would have to store all my personal information in computers and on documents that I printed out from computers. Who needs handwriting anymore when you have printers? I'm digressing, though.

"I am not going to forget… You got a hickey from Braginsky?" That is just so unbelievable. I didn't think that Braginsky had the power to actually attract someone being all unusually creepy and particularly ugly for a fellow Eastern European. I don't like him. Whenever he is in my area, I must move with well thought-out erudite plans. I better tell Toris this… and maybe that intern/volunteer guy trying to get community service hours for school. Such a cute little fellow. He never knows when to shut up, though. Braginsky has got those two under his reign of terror, but not me. I can evade him and… stand up to him if it's absolutely necessary.

"Uh… Oh God… I meant to talk to you 'bout something else, though! Please don't tell!" Alfred pleads. Oh, this is gold. I'll just smile and adjust my glasses in a sinister way. I am so telling someone, at least that little intern person. I nod my head, crossing my fingers behind my back.

"Shoot." Well, I might as well humor Alfred since he is my friend. I may go behind his back and spread things, but that is definitely for his own good. I guess it is for my own good as it is not easy to forget that mental image of what Alfred said to me, though. Then, if Alfred is my friend, he will let me spread it around! Ah, who am I kidding? Alfred obviously has pent-up feelings for Braginsky if they are giving each other hickeys, so of course, it must be spread.

"Well, you see Braginsky and I were in the elevator and he was complimenting me and stuff that is really annoying because he is a dick and then, I told him he was supposed to be a damsel in distress. And then, when I went into the elevator again he acted like nothing was said, buuuuutttt, he did call me brain dead… basically," he explains really quickly. I need a second to pull together the fast nonsense that Alfred just said. One moment. I need a computer to figure out his speech sometimes. I swear… I wish he was calmer sometimes, but it is kind of amusing and he is pretty good with computers.

"Well, I have never heard a story like that." Oh yes. Alfred definitely is in love with that creepy man. He called him a damsel in distress. With that hero complex he always has going, it is really unusual that Alfred would call Braginsky of all people a damsel in distress. They always seem to banter with each other, though, so that second part isn't very important. "What is your question, though?" He needed to tell me something. Unless his entire point was to tell me a story about Braginsky and him in the elevator, it seems as if he wants to ask a question.

"Um… well, I don't know if he is mad at me…" Hm… I wouldn't think so unless Alfred told him he needed to wear a dress. I smile and snort a little bit at Alfred's question. "What?" It is in this high whiny voice, too. It makes me cringe a little bit. I like quietude and nice and smooth tones of voice as opposed to whiny or loud ones, which is another mystery as to how Alfred and I became friends. Yet, we did and I couldn't complain I suppose.

"You are so in love with him… And no, I don't think he is angry at you…" I tell him. He seems to have flushed a few shades pinker. He is whispering something. "I… I can't hear you…" Well, whatever it is, it probably is a retort, so it probably isn't really important. If I was in love with that guy, I certainly would retort.

"I… I am…" I step back a few steps away from him. What? This is new information. "Don't tell anyone… especially not him…" I think I will not just because of how quiet and sincere Alfred's voice sounds. I am still going to tell Toris about the hickeys, though.

"I won't… I have work to do now, Alfred…" By work, I mean, I am off to tell Toris and Raivis about this. Anyway, I walk off over to the elevator to go to Toris's cubicle. I could just summon Raivis, I suppose via call. I turn on my Bluetooth and consult with Raivis. I'm in the elevator. No way Alfred can overhear me talking about this. "Did you hear that Braginsky gave Alfred a hickey?" I tell the little intern through my Bluetooth device.

"No… Wow! Really? Th-that guy is…" he pauses and starts whispering, "sc-scary, though…" I reassure him with a grunt that it is true. "O-okay… I don't think that I'll tell him, though. I-I don't want extra work…" Braginsky would give Raivis extra work at a drop of a hat. Now, I suppose I'll just tell Toris. I get off the elevator and go to his cubicle.

"Did you know that Braginsky gave Alfred a hickey?" I tell him. Toris's eyes widen as I lean back on the glass. It is probably not as safe, but they don't have the usual sturdier stuff installed here. I don't know why. I know it is ugly, but it is safer _and _cheaper. "Alfred told me himself…"

"Were they making out prior?" I shrug my shoulders. I don't really see why that matters. A hickey is a hickey. Most likely they were doing something extremely visual before that I really do not want to talk about.

"Have you seen Alfred yet? He has a broken nose and bruises all over his neck. Braginsky has a broken nose, too. And a broken jaw. Finally something came his way…" Well, I saw him earlier before, but made an excuse to go to the animation room because I actually had work to do. I suppose it wasn't a made-up excuse, but I didn't have to go to animation room immediately.

"Seems like they got in some sort of fight… before making out?" Toris said that as more of a question, but it is kind of confusing, I suppose. I shrug once more. I don't really want to delve into Alfred's personal life more than I have to. I think I'll just take my leave.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile…<em>

I really can't believe what Eduard told me. I have to tell someone. Well, I suppose that Berwald seems like a good choice. He is really quiet and scary-looking, but he is actually really nice. I know him because he adopted my best friend in high school with his husband or wife or whatever he likes to call him. I would think he is a husband. I've been to their house before. It was nice. Peter was always kind of jumpy as usual. I got kicked out once for offering him vodka, though. I'm allowed back there, though, because I work with Berwald now.

"Hey… Berwald…" I say quietly to him. He looks down at me and I squeak a little bit. Man, that intimidating gaze is always so surprising to me sometimes. I suppose it is just because whenever I see a gaze like that, I expect to have more work piled on to me. "I-I was told by Eduard th-that… um… Alfred and Ivan… they are… Ivan bit Alfred's neck…" That could have gone smoother. Oh well.

"Hm…? Interesting…" He kind of deadpanned that. I'm not sure if he actually found that so interesting. Oh well. Whatever. He kind of sort of walks away from me. I wonder where he is going. He removed his welding mask and everything. Well, I'm sure that I am needed with Ivan.

* * *

><p><em>And then...<em>

I am wondering whether or not employees can date. Is it even appropriate in the office? I should probably discuss this with the boss. And so, I find myself walking down that long hallway of cubicles down to the boss's office. When I walk inside, he is on the phone. I don't mind. I will just wait. I don't really like talking too much anyway.

"Oh…?" The man says a few things in a foreign language. It sounds like some Asian language I can't speak. Just Swedish and English are enough for me anyway. There is nothing I really need to know apart from them, especially since I do not speak much in general. I think he is just saying that he is putting someone hold or saying his goodbyes. It is not right of me to eavesdrop anyway. "What have you come here for, Mr. Oxenstierna?" he asks me.

"I am just here to report some new information about employee relations…" I say to him. He gestures me to take a seat at his desk. He takes a seat across from me. Luckily, I am tall enough for the elephant to not obstruct my view of him, but I fear that anyone shorter than me would have trouble seeing over it when in a seated position. This furniture is really nice, I have to admit. I wonder where it was made.

"Is it concerning?" he asks me. I wouldn't necessarily call it concerning. I would call it more along the lines that I think the boss should know about relationships going on in his section of the building. He is in charge of the cubicles and the people in the tech and animation sectors. His boss is a much higher man. I've never met him.

"No, I am not sure… Mr. Jones and Mr. Braginsky are dating, I believe… or that is what Raivis told me anyway. Is that inappropriate? I am concerned of my coworker's welfare, I suppose." The man practically falls back in his seat laughing. Well, that is not the reaction I wanted. Then, he goes on the phone to talk to his boss once more. He waves me out. I suppose it wasn't concerning then.

* * *

><p><em>Which further led to…<em>

"I just had Mr. Oxenstierna come in and talk to me about relations between two other employees. It was really amusing, Yao…" I laugh. I didn't really see why Berwald came in to tell me about this. It doesn't seem like a rather pressing issue. People can date who they want to date and it doesn't really concern me unless their romance gets in the way of their job. I thought Berwald was going to come in and tell me some employees have gotten into a fist fight or have discovered a deep disliking of each other and needed to be separated. I even expected a complaint.

"Oh really? Well, that is really off topic… Let's get back on top, yeah? Aiya… As long as the work is going smoothly, we are fine… Now, I need you to call a few people for me and set up a meeting on my calendar for tomorrow with those said people. Ah yes. Before you ask, yes, you are supposed to invite those people to the meeting." He lists a bunch of names and I look through my phone book for them. If I don't have them, well, I'll write it down…

* * *

><p><em>And a little later…<em>

Hm… My underling really is too laid back sometimes, but no matter. Now, I have an idea about what is going on in the office. I hope this romance doesn't conflict with these two men and their work. Then, I'll have to tell him to fire them, which I would not appreciate. Well, I might as well have my assistant come in now. I decide to page her now. She comes into my office now.

"My associate told me some interesting news today, Natalya. Usually I don't find office gossip amusing, but apparently Mr. Braginsky and Mr. Jones are dating… Anyway, I have some papers for you to take out to people today… but you can take as long as you want. Of course… aiyaa… I do have a tight schedule to keep up, so you have to bring it to me before closing time." This should be simple enough for her. Well, I don't think she is simple, actually. I think she is very smart and has a lot of potential, but for now, she will just be my assistant. I am grateful for her service. I give her the documents and she seems very excited… or like she is going to kill someone, but I will dismiss that until an actual murder takes place.

* * *

><p><em>Then after this…<em>

I have no idea what to do with this information that Eduard told me. Apparently, Alfred and Ivan are in some sort of hating relationship which ends up with hickeys or something? I have no idea. I got to talk to someone about this. Oh, I know. This will be a great conversation starter between my crush and me. It will be awesome. Maybe I could talk to her and then we could live happily ever after all because of that conversation. I find the blonde with her beautiful long hair and pretty bow. I wonder where she got it.

"H-hey, Natalya… You look pretty today," I smile at her. Ah, she is so beautiful. I always feel so flushed and high around her. It's quite embarrassing. One day, I shall ask her on a date. This may not be that day, but I know it will happen and I know it will be the best day of my life if she were to say yes. She just rolls her eyes, but I don't care. I could just stare at her and say nothing.

"What is it, Toris? I have several other duties to do right now… Especially one having to do with my brother." Well, she seems a little bit agitated. Well, since she mentioned her brother, I suppose it is a good time to bring up who her brother is dating or whatever _that _is. I have no idea. It's some weird sort of relationship that belongs in the four quadrants of Homestuck, not that I read that stuff or anything. ANYWAY. I clear my throat. I am always so nervous around her.

"Oh… I heard news of your brother… I heard that he and Alfred got into a fist fight and then started making out with each other. Ivan gave Alfred hickeys and everything! Eduard told me that's what Alfred told him, so it's probably true… S-so… um…" I want to ask her on a date, but there is a lump in my throat keeping me from asking her. I must be blushing furiously right now. Oh god. This is so embarrassing. Before I manage to get anything out besides "um," she walks away quickly without even saying goodbye. I stand there with distraught.

* * *

><p><em>Proceeding to the present…<em>

I can't believe what I have heard. First, I hear that they are dating and now, I hear from Toris that Alfred and Ivan got into a scuffle. I must see if this is true. I have not seen my dear Ivan all day. If this is true, I must murder Alfred for 1) injuring my dear, sweet brother and 2) for tempting my dear, innocent brother into giving him hickeys. I am a bit suspicious as to whether or not Toris is telling the truth. Therefore, I am going directly to my brother. I did not want to spend my time on that pathetic, lovestruck fool because my dear brother's love life is more important, especially if I am not included!

"Ivan! I have heard of this rumor! I don't know if it is true or not! But Toris told me and Yao told me that he heard it from your boss who heard it from Berwald who heard it from Raivis who heard it from Eduard who Toris also heard it from and Eduard heard it from Alfred, apparently! I HOPE IT ISN'T TRUE, DEAR BROTHER." It better not be. That was a mouthful. I feel like that idiotic American spreading all this gossip everywhere. That is all Americans do. Look at their tabloids. They are all idiotic and annoying and false. Just mindless gossip. I have found that my hatred for Americans runs extremely deep.

"What… is it?" He seems a little bit tense. Maybe if I get closer up to him, he will get less tense. I move closer to the much taller man and huff. It was terrible news. I must look so sad. I hope he will hug me or something once I get close enough because I really do not want to talk about this, yet I feel it necessary. I grip onto my big brother's coat and dig my head into his chest for a moment. He is always so warm and sturdy, which are more reasons I absolutely adore him.

"I heard that you and Alfred were having passionate hate sex after beating up each other and you gave him hickeys… and also you are now dating him. It was absolutely terrible news, obviously…" I tell him quietly. I hope he agrees to murder Alfred with me because this came directly from his mouth. I look at my brother and his cheeks seem to be unfortunately pink. He seems to be doing a pushing away motion. I want to hug him for longer, but I do not think he wants that, so I bitterly pull away.

"Where the hell did you hear that?" Ivan asks me, his eyes wide. He doesn't seem too furious. I already told him where I heard that. "Never mind. You told me… I can assure you that is not true…" And I hope it will never be. I hope Ivan does a strong talking to to Alfred because I will not be satisfied with this unless Alfred pays. "Except for the dating part…" he smiles at me like it is something to be happy about. Oh yeah, he put that on the form. I thought that was my big brother trying to get on Alfred's nerves or being stupid. He is perfect all the time, but even I can say that Ivan can be a bit dim sometimes. Sometimes. Rarely. He is too perfect to be it often unlike Alfred who is stupid all day, every day.

"Oh…" That is all I can think of to say… They are officially... dating.

* * *

><p><em>I'm going to switch back to Ivan's point of view next chapter, though. He needs to have a reaction! Ah, rumors. But it seems that you have found out the identity of the boss's boss, though! I'm keeping Thailand anonymous because, to be honest, I don't even know his fan name or his official name (if he even has an official name), but it isn't like any of you asked anyway. Just putting that out there! <em>


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

That rumor Alfred made up is certainly peculiar. I wonder what caused him to start. Oh, how dim-witted Alfred's mind is for doing that. Well, no matter. I shall discuss it with him regardless because it seems necessary. I have no idea what fuels Americans to always have to start rumors about relationships, but it is really annoying. I especially do not know why matters of a person's love life would be so important either. I don't know about other people, but I am sick and tired of always hearing about pregnancy shams and who's dating and who's not. It reminds me of high school gossip.

I am thinking that my dear Alfred would be in the graphic design area and so I go over to that area to find him. Ah, the sweet blond is hovering over a tablet. He seems to be drawing a picture that looks like him. His drawing skills are amazing. I wonder why I have never noticed them. He is still a dull idiot, though. However, he is my idiot. He must be my idiot. I decide to sit down next to him and lay my head on his shoulder again. This time, he does not seem to retort or anything.

"Hey, Ivan…" he says quietly. It seems as if we have passed the threshold of our relationship. This is really nice for me, but I see that we have not kissed yet. I wonder when that will happen because I really enjoyed our kisses of the past. I can still remember them rather clearly, but I do not want to get into that currently. Maybe I'll think of them later…

"Hello… I heard you spread a rumor of us… If you wanted sex, you could have just asked, Alfred. It isn't like we ha-" Well, I get such a rude interruption here. I am pushed off of his shoulder and he is giving me this rather intense glare. I am blushing a little bit. It is a really cute face on Alfred, that glare.

"What rumor? And I don't want sex!" he shouts at me. The whole department turns towards us. Alfred sometimes is a nuisance. I pinch the bridge of my nose due to all the unwanted attention that Alfred managed to bring forth.

"Are you sure? You had an enjoyable time last time," I wink at him. Well, yes, he did. We were high-schoolers. We were also seniors and we were dating, so it just kind of presented itself. I don't want to get into details right now, though. That would be kind of awkward to think about at work.

"L-last time?! Shut your face, Braginsky, before I punch you in the jaw again!" The right move would be to sneer at Alfred. I managed to make him blush once again, so it is quite an accomplishment, in my opinion. The American covers his face a little bit and whines softly. People are still staring at us. "What's the fucking rumor?" he asks me very rudely.

"Well, Natalya just told me that you started a rumor that said we got in a fist fight and then had hate sex and I gave you hickeys…" I tell him softly. I want to say that quietly as the subjects we have been talking about are really not safe for work. Also, I don't want to draw even further attention to us, nor do I want this rumor spreading around even more.

"Your sister doesn't like me…" he sighs. I smile at him back. Yes, she most certainly doesn't and for that, I am grateful. It would pain me to see Alfred being stolen away by my lovely sister. That would be most unfortunate, but as long as she is happy, I suppose that I couldn't complain. Of course, there is a limit as to what I would do to ensure her happiness, but I don't want to go into those details either. At these thoughts, I feel myself shaking a little bit.

"I know… It's good for me. I never actually got to go take a nap, Alfred… Do you want to come with me? The day is almost over anyway." He gives me an answer by raising his middle finger in my face. Ah, I see. I grasp that hand in my own and kiss it. "Please do not give me obscene hand gestures, Alfred." He grumbles and rips his hand away from me. "What are you drawing?" Alfred seems to be in thought for a moment and puts down his stylus.

"I'm just answering asks… for my ask blog. I have a tablet at home, but I'm done for my work today, so I'm just using the things I have at my disposal." I nod my head at him even though I do not have an interest for why he is using the work tablet to draw for his Tumblr. I didn't need an explanation at all from him, yet he explained it anyway.

"The character looks a lot like you…" I mention. That comment seems to have made him smile. Well, that is nice, I guess. Alfred has always had a very bright white smile. "What is his name?" It would be funny if its name was Alfred. Of course, it would be very unlikely, but it would humor me if it was.

"Alfred… Alfred F. Jones. Like myself. He's a character from this anime I like about country politics." That sounds like a very boring anime. An anime about country politics just seems rather boring. What is it? By what Alfred told me, it sounds like an anime where boring Japanese people just sit in a board room and discuss what happened between countries throughout history… but animated!

"That sounds very boring…" I mention. Alfred narrows his eyes at me. I know I offended him by offending this anime. Then, Alfred seems to send the drawing to what I assume is his email and erase the board. He will probably be working on it later at his home with that tablet he was talking about. That is just what I am assuming, though. He is starting on something else now, though.

"You have not watched it…" he growls at me. "I'm going to draw the commie character because he's an asshole like you. And he looks like you because he is creepy-ass and this will not be a compliment. He has a bigger nose than all the rest of the characters, too, so it must be very long and huge!" Alfred starts drawing. I assume he is to spite me. I was not paying attention to half of that garbage that came out of his mouth, whatever it was. I am not sure it even makes sense, to be honest.

"It is probably just a talk about politics, but with subtitles. I do not see how that is very interesting… The way you described the show, anyway, doesn't make me see how it is so great…" I am going to stick with politicians who represent countries sitting around a board room table discussing politics in Japanese. Real world meetings are really boring, I would think, so I really don't know what Alfred is so obsessed about.

"No no, but you don't see! The people all represent different countries and stuff and it's really funny to see how things pan out if countries were actually people! Like some of the wars are just like England and Russia poking Germany with sticks. I'm gonna have to make you watch the movie, too…" No, what have I gotten myself into? This show seems absolutely terrible. And there is a movie?! I must calm myself down before I think of murdering Alfred about this. I already am thinking it, actually, so that is about useless.

"Alfred, I have no idea of the appeal still…" The American seems to sigh like I am hopeless. That might be a good thing. Maybe he will give up on actually trying to get me interested in this weird garbage. I don't even watch anime. I barely even watch TV… Books are so much more wholesome than those things people see on television… unless that book happens to be _Fifty Shades of Grey. _That is not very wholesome.

"It's funny because they embrace the stereotypes and stuff, the country personifications! And, like, France and England get into all these hilarious arguments! Canada is like… who is that! To be honest, I wouldn't even know what Canada is without Justin Bieber… so yeah!" I still do not get the concept. "Just watch it with me, dude!" If only Alfred could just describe it to me better. All would be well then. Well, at least, his drawing of Russia is really good. I approve of it, except for the fact that his nose is giant. He looks a lot like me… except with an exaggerated beak-like nose.

"You drew him really wide… Why?" Alfred snorts at my question as if it is obvious. Well, I am not in any… fandoms, is it? Besides book fandoms. Like Shakespeare and Dostoyevsky. Also, Tolstoy is a good one, too. His books are long and fantastic. Then, there is Nikolai Gogol. And then, there is Nabakov. I appear to like Russian writers a lot. Hm… Now, I think I need to read a new book. I will read something by Orwell. Oh, I hear one of his novels was based off of a Russian novel written earlier! _We, _was it? Ivan, you are digressing and probably spacing out… I smile shyly and giggle to myself in my embarrassment.

"So yeah…" I sheepishly ask Alfred to repeat himself. "Jeez, dude. Were you not paying attention?" I shrug in response and he sighs. Finally, he will repeat himself. "Well, it's cuz he's Russia and really tall and you're Russian and kind of chubby, so I guess I just modeled him after you cuz you guys look alike." I am not sure whether or not I should be offended at this right now.

"The nose is so big, though!" I mention. If it is modeled after me, I don't like it. I fold my arms together because this is just unfair. Alfred snorts and starts laughing at me and so I glare back at him. How dare he find my pain amusing? I don't find it amusing at all. I do not like the way he drew my nose, nor do I like how "chubby" he drew me. "I don't like it…" I growl at him and give him a death glare.

"Oops. Already uploaded it to Tumblr. I told ya I was gonna make the nose big. The character's nose is all big, too… canonically or something." All this coming out of his mouth is so stupid. I am going to have to get a Tumblr so I know what he is doing with my images that I do not like 24/7. I do not like this.

"I am going to get a Tumblr now, Alfred… but I think work has ended." It definitely has. We can go home. Work wasn't so bad, even with our injuries. I am grateful for this fact. I was worried that Alfred might be in unbearable pain the entire day. "Do you want me to take you home…? Since I drove you here…" Then, I might be able to spend extra time with my dear Alfred and maybe kiss him because I think kissing would sum up my feelings for him. We are dating, yet I am very uncertain as if I ever even loved him.

I mean, he is such an idiotic fool, but yet, I find him so dear. My relationship with Alfred is a lot like Gollum's with his precious in Tolkien's books. Alfred makes me crazy with his stupidity, yet it was very hard for me and somewhat hazardous to live without him for so long. He has to be mine, I have found out and I don't want anyone else to have him, not even my sister. I have come to realize that I actually have a deep jealousy of Natalya, one that I cannot explain and is a little bit conflicting.

"Yeah, I guess, babe…" Well, at least, Alfred still knows that we are dating, yet he still makes no move to kiss me. I wonder what would happen if I tried to hold his hand. We get up from the chairs and he looks at me. I glance down at Alfred's hands. They look tan and calloused. Mine are pale, but also calloused. "So… we goin'?" I nod my head and grab his hand. He blushes lightly and sighs. "Don't… tell anyone…" Now, he intertwines our fingers together and we are holding hands as the couples do.

"Oh, Alfred. You are so childish. I doubt anyone in the office gives a damn about our affairs!" I tell him, a large smile on my face. He gives me a glare back, but keeps our hands intertwined either way. We enter the elevator together. This elevator is glass, so it isn't very private, unfortunately. This is the time when most people exit work. We could have gone down the stairs, I suppose, but the elevator is a bit nicer than a stairwell. Anyway, the elevator dings and he starts walking briskly out with me. Our hands continue to be intertwined, which is causing a faint blush to peek through my exterior.

"You have a truck, right?" he asks me, stopping in the middle of the parking lot. I nod my head at him. "What do you do in the truck bed…?" That's a really weird question. I just keep tools and stuff I need to carry around every once in awhile. "Never mind… Let's just go home…" Let _us _just go home. _Us. _Apparently, I am now part of Alfred's home. Yes, he is mine. I feel like he will stay mine and I definitely will never let him go. Now, that I have what I want, it just seems pointless to let him go.

Finally, we get to my truck and Alfred gets in the passenger seat. He turns on the radio rudely. I did not tell him to turn it on and I certainly didn't give him permission to turn it on. It is turned to some pop channel I don't know the name off. I think he will stay at this channel, but then, I am struck wrong when he switches it to XM and goes to some punk pop/alternative channel. Okay. I don't know why he is being so weird. The song that comes on seems to get him in the singing mood because now he is singing… in a rather off-key tone. I wish he would stop, but I have to pay more attention to the road than at his terrible singing voice.

"My ship went down in a sea of sound. When I woke up alone, I had everything…" He seems to just hum a lot of this until the chorus. "I was carried away… Give me therapy! I'm a walking travesty, but I'm smiling at everything. Therapy, you were never a friend to me, and you can keep all your misery." More humming, kind of. He sings some parts. "Arrogant boy, love yourself so no one has to! They're better off without you! Arrogant boy, cause a scene like you're supposed to! They'll fall asleep without you… You're lucky if your memory remains…" His singing voice has seemed to get better. It sounds nice and the song is sounding is starting to sound sad. No, it has always sounded sad, but his terrible voice was making me want to laugh at instead. I hope it ends soon. Alfred seems to be depressing me.

"You sound so sad, Alfred…" I tell him while driving. The next song comes on, thankfully and it is a lot less depressing. I'm at a stoplight, so I can see what it is called. It is called "Madness" by Muse. It seems to describe my feelings perfectly for Alfred. "I- can't get these memories out of my mind like some kind of madness that started to evolve." This time, I can sing a song. "I- tried so hard to let you go, but some kind of madness is swallowing me whole! I have finally seen the light and I have finally realized, what you mean…" What does Alfred mean…? "I need to know if this is real love… or just madness keeping us afloat." Yes, this song is perfect for me. I… stop singing it.

"Why do you know the words to this song, Ivan?" I shrug and pull into the parking lot. I see no valid explanation to why I know that song besides that I have heard it before and it is on my iPod. I think Alfred could deduce why I have it unless he is dumber than I have figured so far.

"Why do you know the words to that other song? That was really such a sad song… I almost think you relate to it…" Alfred seems to have the same reaction to my reaction. "Alfred, you don't have to feel that way," I say quietly. This shouldn't concern me, but it does. Either way, I intertwine my fingers within his again and walk him over to the apartment building and into the elevator. I take him up to his room and he unlocks the door. I come in without asking.

"Don't you have your own place?" It does not seem like a big deal to me. I nod my head at him. It is even in this same apartment building. I think he realizes I want to stay here. Oh no, I am not going to let him get out of my sight just yet. He sighs and closes the door behind me. His normal goofy smile seems to have dissipated. I'm guessing that he is just tired. Or maybe that song really was speaking the truth. Either way, I walk over to the bedroom with him and watch him get undressed. "Can you help me take off the brace? Doc said I couldn't sleep in it…" I nod and help him get it off. "Thanks…" Yes, Alfred must just be tired.

It seems that that is more likely. I remove my coat and my pants only, but I do not remove my shirt or my boxers. Alfred seems to have replaced his pants with some flannel pajama bottoms and his shirt with just a plain white one. He gets into the bed and pats the spot next to him. Oh, he is allowing me to sleep with him again?

"Babe, just get in here. It's not the same." A deep flush spreads through my cheeks and I climb in next to him. He moves his head on top of my chest and puts an arm around me. This is entirely new, but I suppose that Alfred has come to terms with his feelings, which is a lot more than I can say for myself about Alfred. His head seems to be craning up now and I all the sudden feel a warm sensation on my lips. It's… a kiss. Alfred is kissing me. That warmth seems to have lasted such a short amount of time and now the American seems to be faking some sort of sleep. I can't even talk to him about this! Well, I have no choice but to fall asleep as well, that short, but wonderful kiss in my dreams.

* * *

><p><em>That song, which I did not mention the name or the band who composed it is Therapy by All Time Low. I just really like that band. Whatever... Anyway, it's going to stay in Ivan until I say it isn't anymore. He still has things to figure out whereas Alfred has figured it out at this point...<em>


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

The next day, I seemingly wake up next to my dear Alfred once again. He is so cute when he is sleeping. I could watch him sleep at night. A small laugh comes out of my mouth at this thought. Oh, I am getting too flustered over Alfred's cuteness. I'll try and stay still. He seems to shift uncomfortably. I presume that he is waking up now. Now, I will be bombarded with incessant, annoying utterances. There are times when Alfred is just so annoying. Most of those are all the time, though. Such a dim creature. I run a hand through his hair in this thought.

His blue eyes flutter open to look at me and I poke his nose now. He grumbles at me and hits away my hand. He is also grumpy right now. Alfred seems to enjoy squeezing me. I don't know why, but he is doing it again… even lifting up my shirt to do so. I know Americans have a term for what he is squeezing of me, but I don't know what it is currently. I don't like being squeezed and I am rather peeved at Alfred right now. My eyes say to him that I will punish him, but I'm pretty sure that I am also smiling.

"What are you doing?" I ask him, forcefully through my teeth. He seems to not have comprehended my question for the time being. I have no idea why. I feel like it is just his small American brain that does not even understand the most simplistic of words. "Alfred, I know you can understand me. Stop it." He gives me a sigh. Sometimes, Alfred just seems like he can't take orders or that he is a rebellious child. I believe it is both. Either way, he is twenty-four now, six years out of high school. This behavior should have gone away by now.

He rolls onto his back and away from me. Finally, I can get some peace. As I was saying, he looks so much cuter and more peaceful when he is asleep. It is a nice break for me because his behavior is absolutely unbearably frustrating most of the times, which is why I find him impossible to like truthfully, let alone love. Of course, he will always be my dear Alfred and I will have always lost my virginity to him and he, the same, or at least I think that he lost his virginity to me. It isn't really important besides giving me another insult that I can to the list by knowing this information.

"Babe, I'm hungry." He's so whiny… _all _the time. His childish insolence has been getting old for me, mostly because I am getting older. I am not going to reply to that comment. I doubt he wants to know what I want to say to that comment. I will just keep smiling. Of course, I can feel my smile twitching, but that is not a concern of mine right now. I don't have to smile, so I could very well frown and show Alfred my utter annoyance, but I don't want to. "Can you make me breakfast?" he continues whining. I shake my head "no." He huffs and rolls back onto me. It appears he is bored. I like to relax in silence, to be honest. For Alfred, it isn't that way as he keeps sighing and breathing onto me, as if asking me to answer.

"Can you not make breakfast yourself, Alfred?" It is a valid question. The American is a grown man just like I am, so it seems rather bizarre for Alfred to have an incapability of making breakfast unless he was crippled in the mind or body to render him unable to do it. I doubt that Alfred's stupidity is downright a mental disease, but who knows. Only doctors. He is pouting at me with big, blue, puppy dog eyes. Oh, Alfred. I will glare harshly back at you. I do not give sympathies to puppies. Children which are not adults and maybe actual puppies, I would. Come to think of it, I think I just wouldn't sympathize with you. He can't hear my inner monologue, but I'm sure my face shows it.

Now, he frowns at me. I continue to glare at him. Once again, my lips feel a warm sensation on them and I realize that I am being kissed once more. My frown which was present in the glare seemingly fades away and I kiss him back. How could I not. All of Alfred's kisses are complete heaven to me. No, they remind me of why I like him. Just those sweet little kisses are something to die for.

"Now, can you make breakfast?" Oh, I see. He was just kissing me to get me to make him breakfast. How Alfred of him. I give him another glare to which he returns another kiss to my lips and then, to my cheeks, both of them, and down my jaw line. I bite my lip. His kisses are making me giggle a little bit, mostly from how cute they are. Then, his hand goes to remove my scarf, my precious scarf. I growl a little bit. No one touches my scarf. He tosses it off to the side like nothing. I am very tempted to punch him and strangle him again. Before I can move my hands, Alfred pins my arms down and starts kissing my neck. A bite surprises me and causes me to yelp a little bit. What is he doing?

"V-vampire!" I hiss at him. What he is doing is similar to a vampire. I bet he is even drawing blood from my neck. It feels kind of achy as he continues to kiss or more like bruise my neck fatally. No amount of cover-up will ever cover this travesty, but that is mostly because my skin is so pale. And right before work, too! At least the pain is kind of enjoyable. Just when I think Alfred is done damaging my neck, he bites into another place. "CANNIBAL," I shout. I want to get my point across. Although enjoyable, I don't like it. Finally, he pulls away from my neck. The bruises on it hurt to the touch… and are quite slimy and covered with Alfred's saliva. Ew. "Why did you do that…?" I ask him.

"Hm… I thought you could use some hickeys, too." Even though the now greenish and faded bruises on Alfred's neck were not at all hickeys, but more along the lines of something I am a little bit ashamed of doing to dear Alfred now. "I mean, it's not like anyone'll see 'em with that scarf you wear all the time, sweetheart…" He runs a finger down the bruises he made and I shake a little bit. It feels weird… because my neck hurts from it, but it isn't a bad hurt. It is like drinking something really cold in hot weather. It causes one to shake a little and it feels… weird.

"Stop… I'll make you breakfast. We have work soon anyway…" Well, I push Alfred and his inappropriate weirdness off of me and shake again, but this is more of a "I can't believe he did that" shake. Now that I am in the kitchen, I suppose that I shall make some French toast. Russian breakfast is really quite bland. That really won't appease my excessive sweet tooth. I'm more of a baker, per say. Cookies are just so delicious and cakes, too… also cupcakes and Danishes. I am getting to ahead of myself here.

Well, I pull out the bread, the eggs, and milk, the cinnamon and sugar, too, of course. All that one really needs is to mix those all together. I plop the egg mixture covered bread pieces on a skillet, stacking them high when they are ready. I also warm up some syrup to put on it. I wouldn't trust Alfred with syrup… even in his own home, which I am in right now. For now, he is sitting at the table, which I will sit across.

"Can you make us coffee, Fredka?" He sighs like a child and gets up. I presume the answer is yet, but not willingly. Well, he could have just not done it at all, so I am grateful for that. I think I'll have to go back to my apartment for work clothes, unfortunately. Well, at least, my pajamas aren't so bad. He comes back with two cups of coffee after a few minutes and now, I dig into my French toast. When I drink it- Ugh! I am close to spitting it out. What is wrong with it? Well, I grab some milk and some vodka from the freezer. I pour a lot of milk into it and a lot of vodka, too.

"Alcohol in the morning? Really, Ivan… You're _so_ Russian." What is it to be Russian to Americans? I know this is my heritage. I shrug at Alfred and take a sip of my coffee. It tastes much better now, thank the god I don't believe in. The vodka takes away the caffeine effect, which is why it works so well in coffee. Besides, I would not want to be so energetic and annoying like Alfred. After we are both done with our breakfast I take my leave to go upstairs and change into my work clothes. I should see Alfred again when I go to work. His car is still here, after all. He can drive himself now, I believe.

Peace and quiet in my own car will be nice. My scarf won't cover those bruises, though. I don't like it. I know Raivis is going to start asking me questions. That child is also a nuisance as he can't keep his mouth shut, but he is really short, especially for a teenage boy. It is kind of cute, but not Alfred cute. Alfred cute deserves a whole other category, but so does Raivis cute, I believe. The twenty minute car ride without Alfred, speaking of him, is really nice, at least. I don't like being alone, but sometimes, it is necessary around people who talk too much such as my dear Alfred.

Once at work, I go directly to my office. I feel the need to contemplate on what exactly I really like about Alfred. Then, Natalya comes into my space. She has a paper she forgot to give. Her face seems to be completely filled with emotion, a shocked emotion nonetheless. It is really unusual for her to show emotion besides her… undying love for me… and anger and annoyance, so my face is shocked as well.

"Brother, what are those bruises on your neck from?" I knew someone was going to ask me. Sigh. I hoped it wouldn't be from Natalya, but that doesn't matter. Those papers look pretty interesting to me. I stare at them without answering her. She looks down at the papers, thankfully, and gives one to me. "Brother… I know they are from Alfred. Why are you still dating that ignorant pig?" Because I like him, I suppose. He's really sweet at times, even if he is annoying the other half of the time.

"I-I like him…" I say quietly. My sister can be kind of murderous at times. I don't like it, which is why she scares me. She is also very intense about her love for me. Of course, I only reciprocate it in a brotherly/sisterly voice even though she is adopted. "Go awaaayyyy…" I whine at her, hugging myself a little bit. It comes to my attention that I seem to be a little bit like Alfred around my little sister.

"But why, dear Ivan?" she asks, walking a few steps too into my personal space. "Don't you see I love you, brother?" Clearly. I have no idea what I should do now, but I repeat the same thing, but in a more distressed voice. I can't exactly push her away or anything because of the same laws that apply pretty much everywhere civilized. She gets even closer. "Why do you love that guy instead of me?!" she shouts at me. I shudder at her voice and feel tears forming in my eyes. Again, I repeat the same words, even more distress, but with a "please" added. "Ugh!" She storms off.

I sniffle softly and wipe my eyes a little bit. A few tears actually came out. She scares me so much. Horror movies are nothing compared to my sister. Actually, I find them funnier than scary. Now, I suppose I should look at the papers she gave me anyway. They were issued from the boss's boss. I don't know his name, whoever he is. I know he works in this building, but no one actually mentions his name or anything besides my boss, but it isn't like the boss goes around talking about how great his boss is and mentioning him by full name.

These papers are pretty boring, but they are the employee self-assessments and/or complaint forms they give out to us every once in awhile. I wonder if I should complain about my sister. Then, I remember I actually love her and care about her. Why would I make her get in trouble? Then again, I could make her move departments… Hm… No, I know I am not exactly a moral person, but I don't think I could be as evil to complain about her. Well, once I'm finished with that, I put it in my "OUT" box.

Now, I'll start making my tech support call quota, I believe. This is very mindless and boring. Unless there are interruptions (between calls, of course), this will probably be what I am doing all day. Well, for now, I look at my computer and wait for a call. That was quick. I answer it right now.

"Google tech support, what can I do for you?" I ask the person on the other end. I can hear some snickers on the other end. It is obviously teens prank calling. I am wondering whether or not I should put them on hold and have them listen to elevator music for two hours or if I should actually humor them. I think I will humor them.

"Yeah… my Google phone exploded… I threw it out the window and it got run over by a car. Then, it just… exploded," the teenager says in a deep voice, trying to sound like an adult. I don't ever remember prank calling anyone. I suppose I could do it a lot more often, though.

"It exploded, did it?" I ask him. He replies with a grunt and he snickers a little bit. "Well, your problem is that your phone was infected with a virus and anyone in proximity will now contract a deadly disease. Actually, even if it wasn't exploded, it will cause you to contract a deadly disease." I can hear their shock on the other end. I assume they are holding the Google phone close to their ear.

"Is it true?" he asks me. Teenagers are so gullible. At least, these are. They must be really young teenagers, I suppose. Well, I should teach them not to prank call ever again because that is impolite. Also, I never got to do that when I was a little kid, so I find it completely unfair. Besides, they are taking up my valuable time, so I feel like I should at least get some amusement out of this.

"Yes. Didn't you know? The head of Google infected all of the phones with the deadly virus and is going to use it to take of the world! It will make you brain dead zombies and slaves to him! Mwahahahaha!" I feel like that is one of my more convincing evil laughs. The teen on the other side seems to be silent for now.

"Jeez, this guy is Russian and everything. I knew the Russians'd take over the world!" he shouts, to which I reply with another evil and amused laugh. Oh wait, I can warp my voice with this. I make my voice deeper and more scratchy.

"You will all bow down to the evil lord, Google!" I say in my devilish voice. I hear the sound of them throwing the phone against the wall. It cracks and then, a dial tone is heard. Well, they should probably call tech support for real now. I smile, happy with my accomplishments, only to see the boss standing right behind me. Well, I am still smiling at him, a little bit innocently, too. I need to sell it, so he won't fire me or something. I don't think he will, but just in case. "Prank callers, you know?" I continue smiling.

"I think I will ignore what I just saw, Mr. Braginsky… anaaa…" He seems to be pinching the bridge of his nose. As long as I don't get in trouble, I am fine. His eyes gravitate to the bruises on my neck. I cover them with my hand nervously and seem to turn a few shades pinker. "Anyway, I need you in the tech room today. You need to get rid of viruses." The people who fix the mechanics of computers and other devices don't necessarily have to be versed in fixing computers.

"I think that Alfred could do that…" I say quietly. The man huffs at me. He seems to have smoke coming out of his nose. I thought he was laid back. He usually is, but since his superior asked him to do this, I suppose it has got him on edge. I would be on edge, too. I want to take this man's place and know Mr. Wang's first name or what his voice sounds like. I feel like this man knows what said Mr. Wang even looks like.

"Well, Mr. Jones is doing other duties. Go." I get up, towering over the boss. He falters back a little bit as he should. Then, I pad off to the tech room where there are a bunch of malfunctioning and slow, virus-riddled computers. Alfred is in this room. I knew he would be in this room. I still have things I need to sort out about him. Since that seems to be the stance for now, I think I will try to keep my distance. Also, he talks unendingly, so it would distract me.


End file.
